Kate

It makes sense to compare this book to [b:World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War 8908 World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War Max Brooks https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386328204s/8908.jpg 817]; they are similar, in that they both use testimonials to slowly paint a picture of an event.I just loved the concept of The Silent History - all of a sudden children are being born without the ability to comprehend or create speech. I do love a good psychological sci-fi that posits a situation and then just goes with it. It was fascinating how different characters interpreted being Silent in such different ways (as a disease or disability, as just a new variation, as a message, as a return to “real humanity”, etc.).The Silent community has many strong parallels with the Deaf community, especially when it comes to the fight between seeing it as a disorder and trying to fix it with medical technology, and not seeing it as a personal problem but as one with a society that tries to “fix” everyone to make us all the same instead of changing the environment around us to allow everyone to participate equally. It was interesting to read about the range of parental reactions to having Silent children, where some would immediately embrace it and attempt to learn the “face talking” language that Silents use with each other, some would hold hope that their child would be able to learn language someday and would spend all their money and time on speech therapy, some would encourage their children to make other Silent friends while others would prevent their children from seeing any other Silents, some immediately jumped on a new medical “cure” while others were horrified that they should be expected to change their children at all...etc.I didn't love all the characters, but I didn't really hate any of them either. I liked seeing the same event from different perspectives, it helped to empathize with each person. Everyone is trying to deal with this sudden and confusing situation as best they can, and we all have different coping mechanisms.So, I really liked this book. And it's cool that it's an app too, but I don't think I really missed out on anything by not owning any apple products. If you want, you can just read a chapter a day and you'll have the same experience, pretty much.

Today a bearded stranger gave me this book for free on the subway. As it turns out, he's the author, though you wouldn't know it from the author's picture at the back of the book, because that guy has no hair. I don't think he knew that I'm a librarian when he gave me the book but nothing's impossible, I guess!

This book is a kind of bonkers collection of stories that include conversations, riddles, and paint chips. And there's a dinosaur! And what I guess is what Marilyn Monroe would look like as a zombie. I love the art style, and the facial expressions, and the dialogue made me chuckle a bit. Plus it was free and my phone'd just died so it was pretty much the best timing to get a free thing to read from a stranger! Thanks, Stephen Burger.

I've been waiting to read this book for a long time, after reading [b:Pump Six and Other Stories 2819368 Pump Six and Other Stories Paolo Bacigalupi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391343246s/2819368.jpg 2845301], his book of short stories. Which was SO GOOD. This book takes place in the same universe as some of the Pump Six stories, and it's a really interesting and sad, poverty-stricken world. I read this one on my phone so it was in between other books I was reading. I found it hard to follow the politics and loyalties, but it was still really great.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book from reading the description on the back. It's been catalogued in my library under science fiction, which I'm not entirely sure is the right designation; though non-fiction isn't quite right either. There are some definite drawbacks to the system we use! Anyway. 21st Century Robot is a manifesto, sci-fi book, and user manual. There are lots of people involved, not least of which is Intel. This book goes through the 21cR manifesto: A robot is imagined first, easy to build, completely open source, fiercely social, intentionally iterative, filled with humanity and dreams, and thinking for him/her/itself. Sounds good to me! The tone is a little overly excited and back-patty for me - lots of exclamation points.The manifesto is explained, and the conception and creation of Jimmy (the robot) is described. The process of designing and building Jimmy is really interesting, as he is meant to be as accessible as possible. If I had to describe this book/manifesto/robot/idea in one word, it would be social. The robot they designed was meant to be cute and appealing to humans while still looking like a robot. The point of the robot is not to be a slave to humans, but to be a friend. They talk a little bit about why it's important for your robot to have its gender or non-gender specified - male, female, or neither - but I didn't really buy it. Something-something we would treat a robot differently based on its gender something-something gender roles something-something we got an expert to talk about this!Jimmy's designs were given to some robotics students, and each group got a different budget to work with. He was designed to be as affordable as possible - his shell is 3D-printable, in smaller pieces that are then fitted together - I think they said it took a few days for one version of Jimmy to be printed. The website (http://www.21stcenturyrobot.com/) has a bunch of plans for building Jimmy for less than $500 up to over $12,000. The code is designed so that each robot can have a different personality - for example, your robot might be kind of nervous so you could have it run away when it hears loud noises or look at the floor when someone talks to it. The best part is that everything is open source (or at least it will be when the website is complete, I guess) - anyone can tweak the designs at any level from hardware to code to build something personal. If you have the knowledge, you can build your own robot based on the designs on the website or your own design, and if you're not so inclined, you can buy a kit for $1,600 (that includes all the moving parts and inside bits - you still have to print the outsides). If you are a pro coder, you can mess with all levels of the code for Jimmy - if you're not, they are developing robot apps that you can mix and match to develop your robot's personality, which I think is one of the coolest parts of this project. Being able to manipulate your robot's personality quickly and easily would be so great for someone who doesn't want to or can't put in the time and effort it would take to become proficient enough with coding to do that all from the beginning.So as much as I think this is a really cool project, the “anyone” I've been talking about is not all-encompassing. You need the know-how to build something, more so if you want something cheaper. You can get a kit with all the parts you need (minus the shell) and presumably easy instructions to put it all together, but $1,600 is still prohibitive for many people. For the less than $500 version, you need to know where to buy the parts, have access to all the necessary tools, and understand the jargon enough to follow the directions. With every version, you need access to a 3D printer for enough time to print out the pieces and the money to purchase the material - based on what I skimmed in the robot designs, that ran from $70 to over $250. The library that I work at has a few 3D printers accessible to the public at a low cost, but printed projects are limited to 2 hours. There have been many larger projects printed in 2 hour increments and then attached, but doing that with Jimmy's shell would require the know-how to break up the 3D image files into the 2 hour pieces in a way that could be easily fitted together, not to mention a lot of time to print and the cost.In between all of this information about designing and building social robots are a few Asimovian short stories about a roboticist who goes around the solar system trying to figure out why a particular robot would attack its owner or steal a dead body. The ideas were pretty compelling, though the writing left a little to be desired for me. Here is one of the author's short stories that wasn't included in the book, about mining robots who start going to church (that pdf includes some really nice watercolours too!).I've giving this book 4 stars because the sci-fi interjections reminded me of [b:I, Robot 41804 I, Robot (Robot, #0.1) Isaac Asimov https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388321463s/41804.jpg 1796026] in a good way, and because all the meat of this book is pretty exciting. I look forward to seeing what comes out this project in the future!

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous! Beautiful bright colours, and I loved the concept of Lillian seeing her ghostly ancestors on her walk to the polling center. I also really love that, while the book has an optimistic ending, the afterword mentions that new voter id laws in some states are restricting certain citizens from voting, and that there is more work to be done to secure the same right to vote for all citizens across the country.

This book didn't really speak to me. I just have too many questions about this strange universe in which all the animals have just one counterpart. Why can't they hang out with other species and be happy? Why are all the animals the same size, except for some birds and some fish? How come the groups of small birds and fish act as one creature when it comes to finding their counterpart? How come the dragon didn't know that there was another dragon? All the other animals seem to be aware that they're searching for someone. How come everyone is such a jerk once they meet their counterpart? They all just abandon the rabbit after saying they were going to help him! Oh sure, I'll help you find your counterpart, just oh wait no there's another dog here now so we're going to do dog things forever don't ever bother us again and we don't care if you find the other rabbit go away now.

An interesting look how we perceive music. Brains are weird and fascinating, as per usual. I did the BRAMS amusia test online and aced it (I wasn't worried I was tone deaf).

Pretty cute! God is a little girl and preaches tolerance for our differences. Some people put up church bells, some knock ‘em down, it's all good!

Weird.
There were many parts I liked, but I am certain I didn't follow any of the actual story line, whatever it was. It was definitely ethereal and eerie and I loved the feel of it, but I just finished it and I can't tell you anything that happened except what it said on the back of the book.

I read this book for storytime and it was a frickin' delight. The kids had a blast telling me I was totally wrong.

This book was hilarious. Did you know that in heaven - Oh sorry, I mean, the Other Side - carnivores and their prey hang out together on lost continents and speak to each other telepathically? Also there are unicorns. It's always the same balmy temperature and snow is warm and fluffy! The penguins don't mind. Sylvia Browne knows because they spoke to her in her mind while she was looking at the Other Side and they told her that it's all cool.

I picked this up because it was on a list of fiction books with deaf characters, but it's also a middle-grade sci-fi which is right up my alley. So like most middle-grade sci-fi action stories, the adults are either not around or something happens to them, forcing the children to take action and be heroic! I wasn't necessarily struck by how realistic it was, but I liked the story well enough. I liked Michael, presumably black but possibly brown (only his dark skin was commented on) and a computer genius. Parker was an alright protagonist, nothing special.
My only real quibble was that the difference between American Sign Language and British Sign Language was shrugged off as comparable to the difference between American and British accents. Unless Emma had been studying ASL while in England, she wouldn't be able to land in America and be able to sign with the kids in her school immediately. They're really different languages.
Otherwise, anything else I didn't love was just aesthetic.

This book was cute, if longer than necessary. The premise was cute - before strict copyright laws, literature pirates called “bookaneers” would steal manuscripts and other literary etcs. and sell them for much cash. I wasn't sure if I was meant to sympathize with the bookaneers or not...there was a distinction made between the low-class and high-class bookaneers, with their wealth or lack thereof presumably being linked to their talent at their job, but to me it just seemed like the rich people got better descriptions. The top bookaneers were dashing and clever, masters of subterfuge and quite heroic, while the lower class bookaneers were “barnacles”, petty thieves, dirty, and dumb. Except to my mind, all the bookaneers are thieves so the class distinction was just there to make the rich ones feel better about their vocation. They're classy thieves, not like those dirty thieves. I could never really get into the glory of the search for rare manuscripts, considering that they're just doing it for money and they are hurting creative people's livelihoods. They just kind of seemed like assholes to me, or psychopaths, who were in it for the cash and the thrill of the chase, to see how well they could fool people into thinking they were benign. There were some inklings of Sherlock Holmes in how at least one of the bookaneers described the ways his plans unfolded. Especially considering the book was narrated by a bookaneer sidekick (one of the narrators).

There was also a lot of racism, which I know, it's arguable that in the late 1800s in Samoa all the white people were racist! So, yes, it doesn't come off as Pearl being racist, but as the characters he writes being racist - and especially considering that Robert Louis Stevenson is a main character in this book, the colonialist white man perspective makes sense...but there's a lot of talk of savages and cannibals, how Samoans are better than the other islanders because they're tall and their hair isn't kinky, “it may seem barbaric but remember, American Indians scalp people!”, RL Stevenson talking a bunch of BS about how all the Samoan people who work for him at his island mansion are his family, not his servants...there are some characters who are hatefully racist, and they're “bad guys” which I guess the hateful racism is supposed to indicate, but no acknowledgment that the white hero racism isn't so wonderful either. Which, again, the book was set in and meant to have been written in the late 1800s early 1900s so it's “true to life”, but there didn't seem to be anything tongue in cheek about it, no indications that Pearl was doing a send-up or a satire of writing of the time period. You can read a book actually published during that time and think, man those people were racist assholes! And then you can read this book fictionally published during that time but actually published in 2015 and hope that the emulation of the style was meant to be a criticism of it and not a nostalgic nod to times past but it really feels more like the latter. Like, I really want to honour these great writers by not changing any of their negative traits and especially not by challenging them or exploring them in any meaningful way from the current context that we live in.

Also the female characters mostly appeared to be around to provide character development for the men. RLS's female family members are less used as plot devices and more just 2-dimensional...I think the author tried to pull their characterizations from history so they weren't invented, which helped, but they also don't really have much personality. One of the other women was basically just where a main character's emotions and motivations come from.

Overall though, I liked the writing style and the general plot. The ending didn't do much for me, but by that time I was already skimming because the book was too long. It didn't ruin my enjoyment though, I can just pretend the book ended earlier! It's an adventurous romp with people I didn't care for but was interested in what would happen to them!

This is a very cute book. I love all the little descriptions that make the story even cuter - like how Earl was surprised to hear Buddy's voice after he'd just run so far! How did Buddy manage to keep up? Neither can figure it out, but that's ok, now they can explore together.

It's definitely inconsistent in terms of writing style and narrative, but I like so many of the ideas. I also just really like reading fantasy/magic realism/sci fi set in uncommon places and cultures (for those genres). I really liked The Black Stain and Spider the Artist in particular. Many others I liked at the beginning but they sort of trailed off at the end. Not a solid collection necessarily but I like Okorafor and will be reading more of her stuff!

Hm. I don't think I get it. Does power create racism? Or did Louis I's new-found power just allow him to finally act on his racist tendencies? Presumably, before the crown, he was just fine grazing alongside the black and brown sheep. I guess the message is that power corrupts? That all the sheep would be happier with their anarchic society, with no ruler? Or is the message that we, the people, should not act like Louis I's fellow sheep by doing whatever the guy with the crown says? Because I guess it's implied at the end that all the sheep are just going to blindly follow the wolf's orders to march right into his mouth. So maybe it's an argument for democracy - don't just follow the person with the crown. But it's not implied that some other sheep might have been a better ruler, so it still seems like an argument for having no ruler. But I'm also not sure that we learned that racism is bad, necessarily. Louis I wasn't really punished for his racist policies, and the sheep didn't appear to be suffering under the racist rule, except maybe in the one picture where all the sheep are running away from Louis I (but that includes the white sheep). All that happened was that Louis I by accident lost his crown and became a regular sheep again. Which doesn't really seem like fated comeuppance. And now the sheep are left with the strife of segregation and no ruler but it doesn't seem to bother the sheep too much. Louis just looks kind of sad without his crown and everyone goes back to grazing. Was the racist part only in there to really bring home that Louis I was using his power for evil? There are other ways to show that, especially in a kids book. Not that I'm against kids books tackling issues like racism, I think it's really important actually...but Louis I's progression of things his did didn't seem all that bad until the racism part, and there was no explicit punishment for it. I'm curious to hear what kids would say is the point of this story because I'm clearly baffled.Especially since Tallec also wrote [b:Waterloo & Trafalgar 13592379 Waterloo & Trafalgar Olivier Tallec https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350960127s/13592379.jpg 19180463] which is a great book.I think it's time to end this review because I've thought too much about this book by now.

I love this book! A great exploration of what different colours mean to different people. “‘Brrr!' Grandma says. ‘Gray is cold. Like the sky before a storm.' But my gray is as cozy as a curled-up kitten and the sound of soft rain on the roof.” It's so lyrical and the art is really gorgeous, I especially like the lush green forest. Check out Catia Chien's beautiful paintings!

This is a very very adorable book. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story is so relatable for anyone who has ever loved a book. I loved the books with prizes - the Pull Lizard Prize, the Called A Cat Medal!

Plus I think it's nice that this is my 200th book I've read this year :) A good one to end my 2015 challenge on!

I love Tina, she's a cool cow. Why sit at home and eat grass when there's a forest to discover and new friends to make? Plus the art is totally gorgeous.

I am such a sucker for a beautifully written rhyme! I couldn't read this book in my head, I had to read it out loud because the rhyming was so great. And the story was cute, too. Mr. Magee and his dog, Dee, have some skiing mishaps but everything turns out okay in the end. I just want to read this at a storytime so bad!

The illustrations in this book are fabulous - like another reviewer said, reminiscent of cave paintings. Full of energy and movement. The story is great too - I had no idea that wolves and ravens sometimes worked together to find meals! I love picture books that demonstrate science facts!

This book came to me at the right time. I've been in one of those ruts where I have a couple piles of books at home, holds checked out from the library, and while they're all books I want to have read none are books I really want to start reading. For some reason they're all too long or too heavy (figuratively) or too heavy (literally) or too dense or too flip. Then I picked up Mãn, and it was light and short, with tiny, vignette-like chapters and airy, poetic prose.

I liked the focus of this book, the main character Mãn, leaving Vietnam to settle in Montreal with her new husband, staying quiet and dutiful while slowly learning about boisterous and joyful affection from her new neighbors and family. Mãn fuses the quiet, subtle ways of loving she was used to, like her adoptive mother stroking her braid three times the same way Mãn does with her own children when they leave for school, with the everyday proclamations of love her neighbor and friend Julie gives to her husband and children. She celebrates fusion in her quiet way in her husband's restaurant, where she uses food to remember and help others remember their homes in Vietnam, the people and rituals and experiences they left behind, adding Vietnamese flavours to Quebecois dishes; she also hires a French pastry chef to add depth and difference to Vietnamese baking. Kim Thúy's writing is spare and beautiful; some other reviews have mentioned that they wish Mãn's relationship with her children had been fleshed out a bit more, and while I sort of agree, by the end of the book I left with the impression that Mãn loves her children very much. Part of her struggle is with methods of expressing love that differ between the culture she grew up in and the culture her children are growing up in.

Regardless of the story, and whether or not you like the choices that Mãn makes or that the author makes about what to focus on, this book is beautiful to read. Crisp and flowing, each short chapter is like a love poem.

Love the illustrations, and the style. A fun how-to book so you can learn how to do cool stuff like animals! I learned that capuchin monkeys rub millipedes all over themselves because the millipede toxin repels biting insects. Also, sometimes crows will drop nuts on the road so that cars will break them open.

It was good, but not what I was in the mood for just now, I guess. I really hate the cover. The writing was good, the characters were interesting, at no point did I want to put it down, but I was never really emotionally invested.

Nice guide to arctic animals, in English and Inuktitut. I liked that they also talked about how the animals are used by people in Nunavut, for clothing or food. I didn't know that lemming skin can be used as bandages!