Operation Superhuman Reader: October tribute and its recovery

I read the Helter Skelter book as a Halloween tribute, and I finished that on the honeymoon. By the end of that book I was definitely ready to read a novel, and an engaging one at that. The Time Traveler's Wife was an excellent choice.

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I chose to read a creepy book during October as a tribute to Halloween, and I found this recommendation in Real Simple magazine. This book also goes to support my desire to read more nonfiction.

While the Charles Manson story is a frighteningly disturbing one, this book didn't play on emotions and rather read like an episode of City Confidential. Written by the prosecuting attorney of the Tate-LaBianca murders, Helter Skelter is a thorough and highly informative read. The book is long, and I was ready for it to end, but all the creepy factors of the case and Charles Manson's own freaky character kept me interested.

However, I did feel funny reading this in public. It's a creepy topic.


The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a fast and engaging read. I'd never seen this take on time travel before, and while the time-line logic escaped me a bit, I was fascinated until the end. The characters were likable and relatable, despite their extraordinary circumstances. It was also interesting to read a story in which the time-line itself isn't chronological.

I thought the mild philosophic references to fate and determinism were interesting and wished that the book could have explored those ideas more. The concept that choice is more dependent on time than freewill and that life is at least semi-predetermined is more of a silent theme present in the book than one actively explored.

I enjoyed Henry and Clare's love story and became emotionally involved with it all. One of my favorite insights was that Clare and Henry are closer because of the hardships they experienced together. I think had Niffenegger been a more mature author when she wrote this, the time-travel science would be more detailed, but especially given that this is her first book, I was impressed with the unique nature of the story and the depth of the characters.

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