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"The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham

Why I read it: It had been lying around my house for a long time. I think I got it from my friend Shari when she got rid of most of her books when she moved to England like seven years ago. The boy has been reading "The Chrysalids", also by Wyndham, for English class at school. I was wondering if this would be a good thing to recommend to him, now that he's finished the Twilight series for the second time, so I read it. I'm not sure it's a good choice for the boy, because it doesn't really have kid protagonists.

Also, I might be going through a stage of "reading from the stash" just a little bit.

Tastes like chicken: HG Wells, which is referenced a lot later in the story, and maybe the new Battlestar Galactica.

Bookmark: One of those cheque-ordering forms from my chequebook.

What I liked: The very British style. There were moments that were quite funny to me, because they were just so deadpan. I love the deadpan style. I liked the way it didn't really seem like science fiction; it was just a story. And I liked the ending. I knew something was up. I thought the candies were poisoned, though it did seem like there was an awful lot of equipment going to that film showing...

What I disliked: When I was reading this last Saturday at the YMCA, I had to ask one of the physicians that were standing around (there were at least two in the room) what an occiput was. Then I got in a pointless argument with a non-physician about whether occiput and Oxycontin have a similar root. I think not.

Lessons learned (what I can steal): It was nice to read a science fiction book that I enjoyed, because I've been going through a spell of wondering if maybe science fiction is not for me.

In other news: I let Ed read Watcher, and he didn't say it was crap. I think I removed the right thousand words.

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