OutReaders:2020-11
11/21/20 2-4 pm
Zoom meeting
Obscura by Joe Hart
Robert Allen was the coordinator. 8 people attended. Wendy, Robert, Sophie, Leah, Ed, Bil, DeVon, Brad
We went over these items:
- The next meeting is Dec. 19, and the book is Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. Ed will lead the discussion.
Book discussion recap:
What we liked: It’s a good romp. Cinematic, like a movie. Easy to visualize as you read. Many people enjoyed the horror aspect and the paranoia. The hydrocodone addiction seemed real/well done. Enjoyed seeing the story unfold and the suspense/thriller/murder mystery theme. Liked the character of Birk the best. Suspenseful nature. A page-turner.
What we didn’t like: Many plot details fall apart if you look too closely. First 50 pages were not great at setting up the reason why the main character would undertake her journey. If the book were longer it could have resolved some of these plot problems. You have to suspend disbelief to read it, similar to a sci-fi movie. Over-reliance on tropes, like the scar on the bad guy’s face. There was not enough info about the disease, about teleportation, and the philosophy that comes with those things. The near-rekindling of the romance between the main character and her ex was hard to take considering her ex was a jerk. The metaphysical description of the teleportation addiction could have been better explained or have been better grounded in science.
Verdict: Mostly positive
January Book Nominations (winner in boldface):
- The Fifth Season - NK Jemisin - Robert Allen
- Axiom’s End - Linday Ellis - Sophie
- Doomsday Book - Connie Willis - Leah
- Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers - Brad
- Ancient, Ancient - Salaam - Wendy
Note: Beginning with this vote, we are using Google Forms to vote on books. Then we use a ranked voting calculator (http://condorcet.ericgorr.net/) to determine the winner.
