For 2015, I decided to put an greater emphasis reading more books.

I slowed down a little in February and have partially gotten through a pile of books, leaving me plenty to report on next month.

Fiction

• World War Z – The Complete Edition: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks – I throughly enjoyed this audiobook edition of WWZ. The structure of the book lent itself so well to bringing in a cast of Hollywood actors to play the characters that are interviewed in the aftermath of a decade long war that nearly kills humanity. Brooks creates an expansive alternate history with enormous failures to recognize the growing threat, surprising shifts in geo-poltical power, and the haunting regrets carried by so many survivors.10/10 And P.S. there are several audio editions and you want ISBN 978-0804165730.
• Dawn from Lilth’s Brood by Octavia Butler – Tor.com publish a list of sexy SFF titles in response to the fervor over the Fifty Shades of Gray movie release.  Lilth’s Brood, a complied trilogy, was listed and the concept was intriguing. Dawn is the first book in a trilogy and traces the life of Lilth after she is taken aboard a vessel after a nuclear war nearly destroys all life on Earth. The story is her journey of meeting her captors and slowly understanding what they have in store for the human race and their own. I couldn’t stay away from the story and read continuously.  The way some of the important details were shared felt clunky at times, but I would recommend this one with hesitation. 8.5/10

Business Books

• Jobs-to-be-Done The Handbook by Chris Spiek and Bob Moesta – I am on the #JTBD bandwagon and I hoped this $20 book would deepen my understanding of this method.  The book is only 66 pages and it looks like it was adapted from a powerpoint deck with 24 point font and copious illustrations.  It’s a beta book that I wish was sold more clearly as that.  Having said all that, I just want more and I would be happy to hear when a more detailed edition is released. 5.5/10 in its current state with 2.5 points reserved for when they add more material.

Graphic Novels

• Sex Criminals Volume 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky – I understand the interest in this book but I don’t get all the buzz.  The book puts sex at the center of the plot; the twist is that the main characters stop time when they do. What they do in those frozen moments is bad, ranging from rude to illegal.  I am probably in the minority but that angle doesn’t work for me. The same thing happened to me when I read The Superior Foes of Spiderman, too much of watching people make bad choices. This is sad because their approach to the character and their sex lives is honest and very human. 6/10 for me.
• FBP Volume 2  by Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez – As I said last month, I went barreling into the next volume of Federal Bureau of Physics and it doesn’t disappointed. The creators explore a new story with wonderful character diversity and a crazy fun story that plays with our perception of reality(s). And the reality is that they are in big trouble as this arc ends. Volume 3 is due out May 5th 🙂 9/10