I'm Feeling 22

This was one of those weeks where I barely had time to pee, let alone read. I worked two jobs, I went out socially every night, I had some volunteer stuff to get done, and as always, I had two very busy kids who still needed to be ferried about, fed, bathed, read to, etc. On top of that, my car died and needed to be towed (twice), and instead of conversations with my husband, we have held a series of short, schedule and logistics meetings during which one of us is either just climbing out of or just climbing into bed.

That sound you hear? It’s the world’s smallest violin playing a concerto just for me.

While it is slim picking on the book blog, I did post a bonus movie blog, so I think it all evens out in the end.

#22 – The Forever War – Joe Haldeman
Recommended by: ES

The person who recommended this book is a childhood friend and his joining the list was a wonderful surprise, especially because he chose a book I had never even heard of, let alone read. It was 1970s science fiction, so as of its time, it is heavy on the science, relatively light on the characterization, and heavy on the misogyny. Where else but 70s sci-fi do all the women have to engage in nightly orgies? Strangely enough, that is really a minor quibble in what turned out to be a fascinating look at war, sexuality, military thinking, and the future.  The protagonist in conscripted into a war against an alien force, but fighting it requires constant jumping through wormholes. So while he only ages a few years in chronological time, he moves through over a thousand years in quantifiable time. I could have done without the paragraphs filled with physics (a running theme in any of my reading), but this book should definitely be required for anyone who is a fan of Heinlein and Bradbury. It spends just enough time defining the world before jumping right into it and does what any good book should do, which is leave you wanting more.