Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed Ready Player One. While I'll agree with some of the 1 to 2 * reviews in that there are a few info dumps in-between the action, I actually found that they added to the narrative (despite the suspense that they invariably caused). They also explained things, such as the backstory to a video game, that I would not have otherwise known, and were, therefore, integral to the story--no matter how "dry" they might have seemed to some readers.

As for some readers' assertions that this is simply a book about nostalgia, and spoke of the implausibility that there could be nothing else of interest between the 1980s and 2040s video game-wise... That is a very closed-minded way of thinking, in my opinion. Firstly, it wasn't just a matter of nothing else interesting happening, it was about a specific contest that centred around video gaming in the '80s, so while there might be other interesting gaming info, the protagonist clearly didn't care so much about the other gaming info when a big prize was to be had if he focused on the '80s stuff. Additionally, I don't think that the only readers that are capable of enjoying this are people reading for nostalgic reasons. I was born in the '80s--not playing video games in them--and I still very much enjoyed the book.

To me, the idea was fascinating, the descriptions and plot engaging, thought-provoking, and exciting, and the characters diverse, imaginative, and amusing. I loved the humour and the voice. I am unquestionably going to read this book again, and I would recommend it to others. I'm very much looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out!

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Highland Knight of Rapture by Amy Jarecki
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed the two middle books in this series, but this one I couldn't get into, and therefore did not finish. I realize that it was the way things would have been back then, but I couldn't get past Helen's steadfast devotion to her awful husband. He treated her abysmally and openly cheated on her, and her reaction was to work as hard as she could to seek her husband's approval.

Looking back, I should have realized that this wouldn't be a story for me, because I just can't get into this plot, even based on the synopsis. I merely figured that since it was part of the series that I should give it a read. But, I was wrong.

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