2011 Backlog, Part 1

Two books that I read in 2011 and that you should not read:

One caveat regarding Consider Phlebas, by Iain Banks: if you are 14 years old or younger, then by all means, go ahead, read it--you might enjoy it. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

For Luminarium, by Alex Shakar...there is no caveat. It's a popular faux-cyberspace yawn-inducing wannabe Thriller. Once it's clear that there's nothing Supernatural or Enlightening going on, it boils down to trying to make us care about whether or not a start-up company founder is going to end up with any money in the bank and a girlfriend at home. I read a few reviews of it that were enthusiastic about its "philosophical" nature, and its engaging narrative re: a search for modern Spirituality occurring via the interwebs and involving cyberspatial incarnations and manifestations of ancient Hindu gods and goddesses...and I was Interested. I had high hopes that maybe there was a new William Gibson-type writing novels right now that would make me think Differently about the world I live in. But I discovered it's just a story about these startup guys following a stupid cookie crumb trail of emails sent to them by non-divine very-much-human people, and I was Annoyed. And Bored.