She's Come Undone

Lamb, Wally. She's Come Undone. New York: Washington Square Press 1992. Print.

First Sentences:

In one of my earliest memories, my mother and I are on the front porch of our rented Carter Avenue house watching two deliverymen carry our brand-new television set up the steps. I'm excited because I've heard about but never seen television. The two men are wearing work clothes the same color as the box they're hefting between them. Like the crabs at Fisherman's Cove, they ascend the cement stairs sideways. Here's the undependable part: my visual memory stubbornly insists that these men are President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon.


Description:

Wally Lamb's debut novel, She's Come Undone, follows Dolores Price, a challenging narrator to say the least, from age four until early adulthood. She has more than her share of obstacles in life, including a father who deserts her to start a new life and family elsewhere; a mother who plies her with sweets and junk and eventually is admitted to a mental institution; and a strict grandmother who ends up raising her. Dolores deals with her world cynically and judgmentally from the confines of her bedroom until her depressed eating brings her weight to over 270 pounds. Although she is accepted into a college, this is her mother's dream, not hers, and she is reluctant to attend.

 

She does meet and retain several acquaintances and eventually a husband who assists her mentally and later financially. But really she meets the world alone, on her terms, and confidently chooses her own pathways.

Sounds depressing, huh? Well, it can be. But honestly, you just have to pull for Dolores amid all her troubles, both those inflicted on her by circumstances as well as those she pursues willingly to disastrous ends. You just have to stick with her and see how she can find a way to pull herself into the woman she has inside her, buried under layers of cynicism, doubt, fear, and false confidence.

 

Lamb is a captivating writer, a master of inner stream-of-consciousness narration, dialogue, and insightful depictions of characters. He keeps you reading page after page to see what new dilemma or person will come into Dolores' life that she will have to examine (often superficially), judge (usually harshly), and react to (angrily). Lamb makes readers feel the conflicts, fears, and hope of Dolores with every situation she finds herself thrown into.

I was fully invested in Dolores and this book for its honest presentation of a young girl coming of age, trying to find herself, and confronting the world and people she faces. It's a modern re-imagining of The Catcher in the Rye, but with a female lead who reveals herself and her angst much more clearly and empathically, in my mind, that Holden Caulfield ever did. 

[P.S. For another great coming of age novel, please read one of my favorites, Brewster by Mark Slouka (see below)]

 

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Slouka, Mike. Brewster.   

My favorite coming of age book with four remarkable, memorable characters who loosely bond together and battle against their personal struggles as teens. A fine successor to The Catcher in the Rye. (previously reviewed here)

Plainsong

Haruf, Kent. Plainsong. New York: Knopf 1999. Print

First Sentences:

Here was the man, Tom Guthrie, in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where the sun was just coming up.

When the sun reached the top of the windmill, for a while he watched what it was doing, that increased reddening of sunrise along the steel blades and the tail vane above the wooden platform.


Description:

Seventee miles outside the tiny town of Holt, Colorado live two elderly batchelor farmer brothers, Raymond and Harold McPheron. They keep to themselves, tending their fields and animals in quiet seclusion, barely speaking to each other much less anyone else. They've lived all their lives since their early teens when their parents died.

But their familiar world changes suddenly in Kent Haruf's Plainsong when they are asked to accept into their household a pregnant teenage girl, Victoria Roubideaux, who has nowhere else to go and no one to care for her. These gruff, unpolished men now must deal with this tiny, quiet girl and her coming baby, privately and in their own inexperienced manner.

[Harold said]...why, hell, look at us. Old men alone. Decrepit old bachelors out here in the courtry seventeen miles from the closest town which don't amount to much of a good goddamn even when you get there. Think of us. Crotchety and ignorant. Lonesome. Independent. Sent in all our ways. How you going to change now at this age of life?

I can't say, Raymond said. But I'm going to. That's what I know.

But in a small town, no one can long keep their lives private. In Holt, that holds true of other stolid townspeople who quietly carry their own burdens. For example, Tom Gutherie, the high school teacher, trying to raise his sons alone while his wife chooses to remain alone in her room upstairs in their home. He also suffers the trials of recalcitrant students and the wrath of their parents.

You get to know and even partially understand the lives of other characters: Maggie Jones, the teacher who befriends Victoria and introduces her to the batchelor brothers; Mrs. Sterns, the ancient woman living alone amongst the items she has hoarded for years: Dwayne, the Denver boy who is the father of Victoria's baby; and Russell Beckman, the school bully.

The descriptions of this landscape and these seemingly ordinary people sets Plainsong apart from almost every other book. Take Haruf's description of Tom's sons sleeping together in one bed:

...the older boy had one hand stretched above his brother's head as if he hopes to shove something away and thereby save them both. They were nine and ten, with dark brown hair and unmarked faces, and cheeks that were still as pure and dear as a girl's.

Then there is simple, moving description of the town doctor who examines Victoria so tenderly:

The old doctor reached up and took her hand and held it warmly between both of his hands for a moment and was quiet with her, simply looking into her face, serenely, grandfatherly, but not talking, treating her out of respect and kindness, out of his own long experience of patients in examination rooms.

These are characters that make you want to cry for their realness, determination, and inner passions. Their lives intertwine as they must do in small towns. To watch their interactions first occur, then blossom, wither, or triumph, all beautifully written by Kent Haruf, makes Plainsong a truly wonderful book. Please read it. It has my highest recommendation.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Doig, Ivan. The Whistling Season.   

A Chicago woman in 1909 answers an advertisement for a housekeeper for a widower and his three young sons living in an isolated Montana town. She writes that she "Can't cook, but doesn't bite," and gets the job sight unseen (by both of them). She brings her brother with her on the train and he reluctantly becomes a unique schoolteacher. Simply wonderful, a great read not to be missed.  (previously reviewed here)

The Chalk Man

Tudor, C. J. The Chalk Man. New York: Crown 2018. Print

First Sentences:

Start at the beginning

The problem was, none of us ever agreed on the exact beginning. Was it when Fat Gav got the bucket of chalks for his birthday? Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures or when they started to appear on their own? Was it the terrible accident? Or when they found the first body? 

Description:

Maybe you are looking for a mystery/suspense novel with a background of youthful adventures and creepiness, full of twists and turns on each page. If so, you will find it all in C. J. Tudor's The Chalk Man.

Narrated over two separate eras, 1986 and 2016, the plot focuses on Eddie and his four twelve-year-old friends living in a small English village. These kids use a secret code of chalk figures drawn on the sidewalk to schedule a rendezvous and other information with each other. But one day Eddie notices a chalk figure outside his house that, when he follows its directions, leads him to a beheaded body in the woods.

Cut to the present when adult Eddie receives a note with no return address or message except a chalk figure drawn on a sheet of paper. He finds his other friends have also received similar chalk figure notes. A prank? Perhaps. But when one of the friends turns up dead, the chalk figure seems much more than a prank.

Turns out there is more than one mystery in this village, more than several suspects in the murder, and more than one pathway leading Eddie and his friends, both in the past and present years, on chilling adventures.

Tudor has an engagingly easy style of writing that makes The Chalk Man a compelling, immensely satisfying mystery. Days and events fly past as Eddie narrates not only his childhood and adult life, but the lives of his closest fellow chalk man friends. Equal parts thriller and character study, the book moves quickly through deep friendships to events to conjectures to action.

A good, solid read for anyone seeking a new mystery with engaging characters and multiple twists and turns along the way to a surprising conclusion. I'm very much looking forward to Tutor's next book and hoping it matches the high quality of The Chalk Man.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

King, Stephen. The Body.   

The classic best-seller about childhood friends who discover a body in their hometown. Later adapted into a Golden Globe winning movie, Stand By Me.

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library

Halpern, Sue. Summer Hours at the Robbers Library. New York: Harper. 2018. Print

First Sentences:

What you need to know about him back then is that if the police put seven college students in a lineup looking for the one who played trombone in the marching band, Calvin Sweeney would be picked, ten times out of ten.

And the funny thing is he did play trombone in the marching band, which is how we met. 

Description:

Things are pretty quiet in the life of head librarian Kit Jarvis at the Robbers Library. Nestled in the tiny town of Riverton, New Hampshire, the library and its regulars are content with their daily routines and familiar faces. But one summer the library experiences two newcomers, Sunny and Rusty. These newcomers eventually work their way into the library's everyday world in Sue Halpern's humorous, unexpectedly compelling novel, Summer Hours at the Robbers Library.

Sunny is a young teenager arrested and convicted for theft -- of a dictionary. The judge rules her community service to work off her crime is to work in the Riverton Robbers Library for one summer. With no experience, no real desire to be there, but a curiosity about the world of books and the library's off-beat patrons, Sunny begins to grow on the reclusive librarian Kit. (Anyone see the obscure film, Party Girl with Parker Posey with a similar premise? Wonderfully funny movie!)

No one thinks being a librarian is as awesome as being a neurosurgeon, but I always thought I was doing something valuable, putting books in he hands of readers. Books can save lives, too. I really believe that ... Like mine.

Kit and Sunny's curiosity is aroused when the other newcomer, Rusty, begins a daily routine on some sort of project with the computers in the library. He is well-dressed, carries an expensive briefcase, drives a Mercedes, and keeps completely to himself. Naturally, Sunny has to find out everything about him and uncover whatever keeps him so occupied.

As long as there are are secrets, there are going to be mysteries....As long as someone has something she wants to keep to herself, someone else is going to want to find out what it is. I guess that's human nature.

A simple story so far. But author Halpern has a few secrets up her capable sleeve, as do each of her characters. What brought Kit to this lonely town? What made Sunny steal a dictionary of all things? And what the heck is Rusty researching so diligently? The answers for these questions are only grudgingly given up by the characters. And once out there, these answers drive the plot to a new level of mystery, curiosity, and friendship.

This is a quiet book with no explosives (imagine that in a story about a library!), no squirming sex scenes, and no car chases. What makes a reader like me stick with this book and turn its pages is the strength of these interesting people who hide their personalities and secrets from the world in the quiet of a library. Unraveling the mysteries about their lives and unfolding events that occur once their secrets emerge are enticing incentives for readers to keep reading.

People who don't think the rules apply to them...are surprised and offended when others don't recognize and honor their exemption.

Halpern is a master storyteller, creating fascinating characters, clever dialogue, and situations that make Summer Hours at the Robbers Library a solid read full of unpredictable plot twists. Give it a shot. You won't regret poking around in this little gem.

If you're not loved for who you are, you cease to be real. Definitely for the other person, and maybe for yourself, too.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Johnson, Marilyn. This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.  

Funny, intelligent, curious, and sometimes sad stories about the lives, staff, and people of public libraries. (previously reviewed here)

I Am Still Alive

Marshall, Kate Alice. I Am Still Alive. New York: Viking 2018. Print

First Sentences:

I am alone.

I don't have much food. The temperature is dropping. No one is coming for me....So if you're reading this I'm probably dead.

Description:

Not many first sentences grab you as immediately as does the start of Kate Alice Marshall's I Am Still Alive. The opening paragraphs show Jess, a teenage girl, staring at the burning ruins of a cabin and the body of her dead father. She is surrounded by hundreds of miles of unbroken forest. No provisions, no extra clothing, no shelter, severly hobbled by an injury, and plenty of hints of eminent danger from outside forces challenge her to survive even the first day alone.

My body's a bit broken, but it doesn't mean I'm a broken person.

But survive she does. She had only been living with her estranged father for a few weeks following a car crash that killed her mother and left Jess homeless and with lingering injuries. With no where else to go, she is shipped to her father who has been living off-the-grid for a decade, not exactly her first choice of companions or living conditions.

Now, using her father's words ("Not strong. Smart") and woodland training learned over the last few weeks, Jess tries to eke out an existence. Getting out of the area seems out of the question, but can she wait until the supply plane that dropped her off is scheduled to return months from now?

In addition, she knows the people responsible for the death of her father and the destruction of their cabin are also coming back....and probably much sooner than the supply plane. So she wants to be ready. But to do what is the question?

It is a survival story, of course, but added to that common plot is the intriguing mystery of Jess' father and his reasons for living in such an isolated location. Also, who are the men who flew in and killed him? And why? All are questions that Jess must figure out to understand her situation and future, should she survive long enough.

To survive you need to learn to hold contradictory things in your head at the same time. I am going to die; I am going to live. There is nothing to fear; be wary of everything. ...The indifference of the wild is terrifying.

Really a compelling read, full of surprises, scenarios, and tension. I loved not knowing what would happen page to page, right up to the very end. I was hooked and cannot wait until author Marshall writes a second novel.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet.   

Brian, while flying in a small plane to visit his father deep in the remote wilds of Canadian forests, survives his plane crash where the pilot is killed. He is left alone with no provisions, food, clothes, etc. except his hatchet, to survive until the unlikely occurrence that someone finds him. Terrifically exciting story. And even better, when you are done with Hatchet, there are several other novels about Brian's life in wilderness settings, each one excellent.

The Dreamers

Walker, Karen Thompson. The Dreamers. New York: Random House 2019. Print

First Sentences:

At first, they blame the air.

It's an old idea, a poison in the ether, a danger carried in by the wind. A strange haze is seen drifting through town on that first night, the night the trouble begins....

Whatever this is, it comes over them quietly: a sudden drowsiness, a closing of the eyes. Most of the victims are found in their beds. 

Description:

Many apocalypse/disaster books detail the results of a deadly plague, war, or zombies - something which threatens to become pandemic and exterminate all humans. Always, there is a random individual or group who somehow survive and try to piece their lives and the world back together.

But for Karen Thompson Walker in her novel, The Dreamers, she portrays an unknown virus that appears only on an isolated college campus and town. And the disaster? People simply fall asleep, whether in their beds, eating meals, walking around, studying -- any time. Kept alive by medical staff using intravenous feeding, the victims peacefully sleep away days, weeks, and months in beds set up in hospitals, gymnasiums, and even libraries. 

Interestingly, someone notices the eyelids of the sleepers keep twitching, leading experts to believe they are dreaming. But of what?

...in some patients, the accompanying brain waves are captured with electrodes and projected on screens....These are not the brains of ordinary sleepers....there is more activity in these minds than has ever been recorded in any human brain -- awake or asleep.

And then, after many weeks, one dreamer wakes up. And what he has to say and do ... well, I'll let you find out.

It's really a simple story without violence, desperation, or noise. The plot concentrates on several adults and students, individually or with partners, trying to understand the virus, help new dreamers get medical attention, and somehow keep themselves, their friends and families from being afflicted. 

But in the hands of a skilled author like Walker, even the simplest of plots can grip readers. Through her narration, we grow to empathize with these characters as they struggle with the unknown. Will they be affected by the virus? How can they live when the food begins to run out? How do parents, cordoned off outside the campus boundaries, feel seeing their children sleeping so peacefully, so permanently? And what about the dreamer pregnant with a baby growing inside her each day/week/month that she sleeps?

The only way to tell some stories is with the oldest, most familiar words: this here, this is the breaking of a heart..

Gripping, compassionate, thought-provoking, and unpredictable. A solid read in every way.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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Ursu, Anne. Spilling Clarence.   

A leak from a local chemical factory sends out a gas that affects residents of the town of Clarence in an unusual way: they suddenly can remember everything with with the associated repercussions of longing, love, and regret. 
brilliantly conceived, funny, and touching. Highly recommended. (previously reviewed here)

The Immortalists

Benjamin, Chloe. The Immortalists. New York: Putnam 2018. Print

First Sentences:

Varya is thirteen ....

They wind through the neighborhood, all four of them: Varya, the eldest; Daniel, eleven; Klara, nine; and Simon, seven. 

Description:

What if you had the opportunity to know the exact date of your own death? Would you want to find out that information? Would knowing this date change your life in any way? In Chloe Benjamin's novel The Immortalists, the four young siblings in the Gold family decide to obtain this information for themselves. They meet with a gypsy woman and are each secretly told the dates of their deaths. Some of the children share this information about when they will die with their brothers and sisters, while one only says he will die "Young."

What follows in this brilliantly-written novel are separate chronologies for the lives of Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon Gold. Broken into four sections, the book tells four individual narratives, each focusing on one sibling, stretching from their late teens years on into adulthood. One child goes on to become a dancer, one a magician, one a doctor, and one a scientific researcher.

Readers become immersed into each of these lives, so I don't want to reveal more. But all the time as their stories unfold we readers cannot help wondering what an individual's death date is and what each character will do with this knowledge. Those dates are almost never referred to by the siblings, that is, until we finally learn that their day is upon them.

The tension between their everyday lives, loves, triumphs, and defeats is palpitating. While they have little interaction with each other in adulthood, there is a knowledge that each person, like themselves, knows a secret only they are privy to and must deal with that knowledge in their own way.

He heard the siren song of family -- how it pulls you despite all sense; how it forces you to discard your convictions, your righteous selfhood, in favor of profound dependence.

I couldn't stop turning pages, both because I was totally engrossed in their separate life stories and because I just had to know how each person addressed their secret. A truly fascinating plot, well-written, with characters one really cares about deeply. Highly recommended. 

And yet, and yet: Is it a story if you believe it?...On some days, she doesn't think it's absurd to believe that a thought can make something come true.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Benjamin, Chloe. The Anatomy of Dreams.   

The headmaster at a boarding school introduces two students into his research into dreams and how, shaping their dreams, they can possibly control stress and tension. But there are developments that bring questions into all three lives and reality and dreams.

The Fault in Our Stars

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Crown 2012. Print.

First Sentences:

Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.

Description:

As a cancer combatant, I retain a fascination for cancer-themed books, both fiction and non-fiction. To me, it always seems interesting to read how an author/character depicts the thoughts and actions of someone experiencing the fears, hopes, and broken dreams that accompany cancer.

In John Green's The Fault in Our Stars I found three teenage characters living typical teenager lives while coping with various stages and types of cancer. Having met in a dull support group meeting, Augustus, Hazel, and Isaac bond over video games, jokes, conversation, loves, and one particular book, An Imperial Affliction  with it's esoteric philosophy about suffering that speaks to them. 

Normal kids, right? But each has challenges to address. Hazel uses a portable oxygen machine to keep her cancer-ruined lungs working; Gus has lost a leg to the disease; and Isaac has only one weak eye which will soon be removed due to cancer. But they persevere by testing out their new relationships with each other, family, and friends; embarking on adventures; and always seeking to somehow contact Peter Van Houten, the reclusive Dutch author of their favorite book.

For Hazel, the romantic attention of Gus is a first and she is cautious, but happy. For Isaac, Gus is a great supporter and fellow video-gamer, and for Gus ...well, who knows what the ex-basketball star gets out of these relationships besides fellowship with fellow cancer travelers.

But this description belies a truly great book. The dialogue is snappy and clever, the disdain they have for anyone who condescends to their illness is realistic, and the strong bonds they form make them seem like young people you wished you really could meet just so you could sit around and talk with them as ordinary people, not merely sick kids.

There it is: a simple story about complex, real characters who are living life of ordinary kids, but who happen to have a fatal disease that will take their lives someday. Hazel describes herself as a "grenade" who will destroy someone someday if she gets too close, But that does not stop her friends nor prevent them from seeking adventure and confidence as they interact with the non-sick world.

To me, it is an honest portrayal of what those of us who have experienced cancer go through and think about, both positive and negative. It's a rare book that combines personal reflections as well as physical actions of its characters on 

Happy reading. 

Fred

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AAbout The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Weir, Andy. Looking for Alaska  

Four friends at a private boarding school discuss life, scheme pranks to pull, consider their lives, and in general reveal what is occurring inside a teenager's head. Excellent (previously reviewed here)

HItchens, Christopher. Mortality  

The famous columnist Hitchens contracts cancer and records his progress in the journey to address the disease. His thoughts about entering the "country of the well" to the "land of malady" are clever, defiant, heart-breaking, and honest. (previously reviewed here) 

Looking for Alaska

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton 2005. Print.

First Sentences:

The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party

To say that I had low expectations would be to underestimate the matter dramatically.

Description:

If you are seeking a travel book, don't bother with John Green's Looking for Alaska. Despite its title, this coming-of-age novel has nothing to do with the fiftieth state, but instead refers to a teenage female student named "Alaska" (she was allowed to choose her own name by her parents) and her small circle of friends at a private boarding school in Alabama.

Alaska Young is a free spirit, full of life, pranks, and off-beat thoughts. But she also has a darker side where she refuses to answer any questions beginning with "Who, What, Where, When, Why, or How." She drinks and smokes in secret too much, falls asleep at the drop of a hat, and can be outrageously insulting at times. But her fascinating curiosity and energy drives her and her friends to new heights in conversation and actions.

Her gang includes the book's narrator, Miles Hatter, nicknamed "Pudge" for his skinniness; Pudge's roommate Chip, nicknamed "the Colonel" for his intricately organized pranks and his memory of facts from the world almanac and dictionary; and Takumi, who has no nickname but is privately in love with Alaska. But then again, so is Pudge along with most other male students at Culver Creek school.

The foursome sits around discussing school, books, pranks, fellow students, and life. And that's about it. Maybe that sounds boring, but it's brilliantly written and realistically portrayed by all four characters, so it rolls along splendidly.

Chapters are curiously titled, one hundred twenty-eight days before, two days before, etc. and then, twenty-seven days after. Of course, that means there is a significant event half-way through the book that changes all their lives. What happens? Well, you will just have to read Green''s novel.

Looking for Alaska is a bit A Separate Peace, some The Catcher in the Rye, and part Brewster (one of my favorite schoolmates coming-of-age books). Green, the best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars and the new Turtles All the Way Down, captures the thoughts and worries of teenagers perfectly in the privacy of their dorm rooms, how they plan to attack life and those who oppose their sensibilities, and what activities are worthwhile to pursue.

If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can't know better until knowing better is useless.

It is a fine peek into the minds and lives of friends living through the challenges and joys of their teenage years. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Slouka, Mark. Brewster  

Four teens find each other and band together in friendship during their trouble high school years. Brilliant. (previously reviewed here)

Knowwles, John. A Separate Peace  

Two teenage boys, one outstandingly popular and athletic, the other introverted and scholarly, bond together in friendship at an exclusive boarding school after World War II....until a tragedy occurs under mysterious circumstances that affects both their lives. A classic.

Ready Player One

Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. New York: Crown. 2011. Print.

First Sentences:

Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the contest.

Description:

When you are a hungry reader like me, you look for interesting books from a wide variety of sources. Recently, my 11 and 13-year-old nephews recommended Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, as one of their favorites. I'd never heard of it, but plunged in and was captivated enough to binge read it in a couple of days.

It is an especially interesting book for those of us who lived in the 1980s and played coin-operated video games in arcades, watched TV sitcoms like Family Ties, and lapped up movies like War Games. In Ready Player One, knowing details about these social icons is key to understanding and solving the ultimate game that forms the basis of the plot. And playing is definitely worth your while as the final prize is over $250 billion dollars.

The game and the prize fortune are hidden within the online simulation world of OASIS. And what is OASIS, you ask?

[The Oasis was] a malleable online universe that anyone could access via the Internet, using their existing home computer or videogame console. You could log in and instantly escape the drudgery of your day-to-day life. You could create an entirely new persona for yourself, with complete control over how you looked and sounded to others....You could become whomever and whatever you wanted to be, without ever revealing your true identity because your anonymity was guaranteed.

James Halliday, the creator of OASIS, had just died. Having no living heirs, he decided to create a game within OASIS with his massive fortune as the winner's prize. A video message was posted after his death introducing the game, its prize, and an opening riddle about three keys to open three gates to find the fortune. 

But after five years, no one in the entire world had discovered even the first key (and definitely everyone was looking) . Then one name appeared on the online scoreboard signifying the first key had been found -- by Parzival, alias teenage Wade, the narrator of the story. 

We follow him as he struggles with the puzzle riddles and exploring the worlds of OASIS and Halliday's life. Because the game's creator was a lover of everything from the 1980s, Parzival/Wade has to master television dialogue and film trivia as well as game-playing skills of ancient video consoles to have any hope of finding the treasure.

Almost immediately, Parzival sees on the scoreboard that four other avatars also have found the first key and are competing against him to solve the next riddles and get to the billion dollar prize first. But also in the running are representatives from the gigantic IOI corporation who wants to control the OASIS worlds and make it into a for-profit operation. The race to the prize is on.

I'm a non-gamer and have only played a few ancient games in arcades in the '80s. But this book dusted off plenty of memories for me (including the phrase "Ready Player One" which appeared before the start of a video game) and introduced me to a boatload of potential technology likely to be commonplace in the future. 

It's a fantastic, page-turning affair of avatars, robots, games, combat, human interactions and mental struggles that I dare you to put down once you are in Parzival/Wade's mind, trying to answer to coded questions and perform the complex tasks required.

(Soon to be a movie in 2018. Can't wait.)

Happy reading. 

Fred

(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game

In the future, children are recruited to be trained as military commanders to thwart the expected attack of powerful aliens. One young student, Ender, must learn the battle strategies as well as leadership skills to survive the complex training and mock skirmishes during his training.