Book Review: I Am Legend

Title: I Am Legend
Author: Richard Matheson
Publisher: Tor Books (October 2007, copyright 1995)
Category: Fiction, Short Story, Horror

My rating: ***
I’m a sucker for books that become movies. Even though I heard that I Am Legend the movie wasn’t that great, I had heard that the book was pretty good. Well, this was another one I found for free at work, so I though why not?

The story is actually pretty good. I watched the movie afterwards, and it’s a good thing I was prepared because the two are almost completely different. The similarity is that a disease has wiped out all of mankind except for a man named Robert Neville. Everything else about the character and how he deals with being the last man on earth (Southern CA in the book, NYC in the movie) is different. I liked the character development in the book and the twist to the end. The movie wasn’t bad though, and I can’t say it would have made an interesting film if they had stuck more to the original because so much goes on beneath the surface, in Neville’s mind, that just doesn’t translate well to the big screen.

Also, the book is more of a lengthy short story than a full novel. If you’re interested, go for it. If not, don’t bother.

Book Review: Meet the Austins

Title: Meet the Austins
Author: Madeleine L’Engle
Publisher: Square Fish (September 2008, copyright 1960)
Category: Fiction, Young Adult

My rating: *****
My favorite book when I was young was Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’ Engle. That and A Wrinkle in Time remain in my top all time favorite books, so when I started working at Macmillan and saw that we publish the Meet the Austins series in which Ring of Endless Light is the 4^th, I got really excited and picked up all the free copies I could find. I’m still searching for The Young Unicorns.

In Meet the Austins, the reader is introduced to a wonderful family with four kids, two dogs and numerous cats. Vicky Austin, the narrator, is the second oldest, and her innocent, child-like yet reflective and introspective voice give the book a sense of something deeper, beyond the simple happy family picture that is painted. The family love and dynamic is wonderful though, and personally, I wouldn’t mind if my family turns out just like them.

I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t read the other books in many years, but this one seems well-suited for even younger readers than Wrinkle or Ring. I loved it though :-)

Human Race

I finished my first 10K. On Sunday, I took part in the Nike+ Human Race. According to them, I finished the race in 1 hour 14 minutes. Unfortunately, whoever planned the route had us go over a bridge about halfway through the race that was too small for the large crowd of people to cross. They tried to make room for the finishers to get through first while they gave those of us on our first lap a tiny path to file through. It brought the runners to a stand still and then a slow crawl as we made our way across the bridge. My guess is that it added 3-5 extra minutes to most people's times, which threw off New York's average finishing time compared to the rest of the world. I finished 170,909 in the world, out of 500,000+, and my roommate Mark who ran with me finished 1,415! A fun fact: Matthew Mcconaughey finished 6,826 with a time of 43'41.