Reading with Your Guy Edition: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Is there a man in your life? Does he love movies, video games and other dude stuff that dudes get into? Then, this book is for him. And it’s also for you. And it could be for your father/brother/dorky cousin-in-law. I’ve been shoving this in my husband’s face on a daily basis since I finished it. I feel like it’s something he’d enjoy way more than I did. And here’s why: it’s so much freaking fun.

I’m going to say something now, and you’re not gonna laugh at me. When I was little, my parents bought us a Nintendo system and my favorite game was Legend of Zelda. It was such an adventure…and you get to rescue a princess or something. (I’m not big on details when it comes to video games.) Opening this book felt very much like the very first time I played Zelda. Like the beginning of a great adventure.

It works like this: A Bill Gates/Steve Jobs-type guy called James Halliday created an online world called OASIS years before the story takes place. With the world’s economy in major depression, most people live the bulk of their lives inside of this virtual reality, even going to school and holding jobs there. When Halliday dies, it’s announced that he’ll leave his entire fortune to whoever is the first to solve a set of clues and challenges he’s hidden in the OASIS. Everyone in the world wants to be the winner, and we are lucky enough to tag along with Wade, a high school aged dreamer, as he sets out on a quest to be The One to solve it all and find Halliday’s hidden “easter egg”. Sounds fun, right? Throughout the book, you’ll find all sorts of references to 80′s pop culture: John Hughes movies, PAC Man, Dungeons and Dragons, Cap’n Crunch commercials, Rush songs. Half of them went way over my head. But the thing is, you don’t have to love that stuff to love this book. And if you do, then this is basically going to be your favorite book ever.

I got the feeling, while reading, that the author was giggling the whole time he wrote this book. The guy deserves a hug. So grab this book, or buy two copies, and read it with you man! Or get it for your dad for Father’s Day! Is your brother’s birthday around the corner? It’s in paperback! (That’s code for cheap. Not that the men in your lives don’t deserve the very best.)

Happy Reading,
Jessica