50 Book Challenge

#57: "Chosen by a Horse" by Susan Richards

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:43:30 GMT

This is an approachable and fast memoir that most any animal lover would enjoy. Susan Richards had a lot of baggage, but by the time she entered her 40s she regarded herself as an independent woman in control of her life. She had conquered the alcohol addiction that dominated her for decades. She shed an abusive husband and family. But when she agreed to take care of an abused mare and foal, she got more than she bargained for. The mare, Lay Me Down, had every right to hate humans, but she didn't. She looked on Susan with trust and faith, and Susan felt her old protective barriers begin to fall. But barriers exist with a reason, and soon Susan would need to face the truth: with love comes vulnerability, but it is still worthwhile.

I was surprised at how gently this book flowed. It felt like stream-of-consciousness, progressing from memory to memory without me even fully realizing how far the story strayed. Susan had a very difficult life, and she is very honest about what she endured and also what she brought on herself. Her relationship with Lay Me Down and other horses, even the impetuous Morgan Georgia, reveal a lot about her and her maturity. This is really a book about love, life, death, and how a person is never to old to learn and grow wise.

Book 72: Storm Glass by Marie V. Snyder.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:58:07 GMT

Book 72: Storm Glass (Opal Cowan Trilogy Book 1)
Author: Marie V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy Romance.
Other Details: Paperback. 512 pages.

This new trilogy from Marie V. Snyder is set four years after the closing of Fire Study. Its main character and narrator is glassmaker Opal Cowan, who was first introduced in Magic Study.

Opal is now a magician-in-training at the Magician's Keep and faces her first real test when she is sent on a mission by the Master Magicians of Sitia to discover why the glass orbs of the Stormdance Clan have been shattering, killing storm dancers in the process. This is only the start of Opal's adventures and trials as this book packs a great deal of plot into its pages yet still has time for some romance and reflection.

I really liked Opal when she first appeared and was delighted to find her elevated to leading lady of this new trilogy. Snyder had created such a coherent fantasy world that I had felt immediately at home in from the start of the Study Trilogy. There is the added bonus of pronounceable names! I did wonder how glass-making would carry a plot though I need not have been concerned because it worked out well.

I do think though that although some background is given that this book really needs to be read after the Study Trilogy as many aspects of plot and characters are carried over and it builds on the foundation created there in terms of the world, its peoples and cultures. I loved it and am pleased that the second book, Sea Glass, will be out this autumn.

Chapter 1 of Storm Glass - contains spoilers for conclusion of Fire Study.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:30:06 GMT

I've been putting off reporting on The Road by Cormac McCarthy because, oddly enough, I liked it so very much. It's the story of a man and his son wandering mostly aimlessly across a desolate America in the middle of what is probably a nuclear winter. I got it because so many of you were speaking highly of it and because I tend to be drawn to the post-apocalyptic. After I'd finished reading it, I called my father to see if HE'D read it. My father and I have very few books in common, since I like sci-fi and he likes straight fiction that's been well-reviewed by the New York Times. This, I thought, would be a book we might have in common.

"I really like McCarthy," said my dad, "But I've actually avoided reading The Road on purpose. I heard it was... bleak."

"It IS bleak," said I, "But it's beautiful in the bleakness."

It's very very bleak, and pretty disturbing in some spots, but there IS a beauty to it that seems to be held in common by very well-done post-apocalyptic stuff (like World War Z). Oddly, it most reminded me of a play I was in my senior year of highschool, a weird little thing called "A Fable" or something like that.

I was worried that the ending would ruin it, but it didn't. Even the lack of quotation marks didn't bother me for very long, it ended up making the whole thing more... bleak (sorry for over-repetition of this word).

So I think you should read it.

(52/100)

27. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:36:52 GMT

Title: Mandy
Author: Julie Andrews Edwards
Year: 1971
# of pages: 188
Date read: 4/13/2009
Rating: 3*/5 = good

Description:

A home of her own. For ten-year-old Mandy, the old stone orphanage was the only home she remembered. Matron Bridie was kind to her, but there were thirty children to look after, and sometimes Mandy felt there was something missing. One day Mandy climbed over the high orphanage wall and found a tiny, deserted cottage in the woods. Here at last was her very own home. All through the spring, summer, and fall, Mandy worked to make it truly hers. Sometimes she "borrowed" things she needed from the orphanage. Sometimes to guard her secret, she even lied. Then one stormy night at the cottage, Mandy got sick, and no one knew how to find her -- except a special friend she didn't know she had. -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I enjoyed re-reading this book as it was one of my favorite books growing up. As I read, I smiled at remembering Mandy's climbing over the wall, and even though I knew how it would end, I still worried when she was in the cottage while she was sick.

Date read: 4/13/2009
Book #: 26
Challenge: Childhood Favourites Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Children's Literature

Publisher: Harper & Row
Year: 1971
# of Pages: 188

33 - 36

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:18:29 GMT

33.
Title: Silk
Author: Jordan Penny
Genre: Family drama?
Rating: 5/5

The Pickfords are just your average family. 1920s Cheshire. A time of great glamour and decadence, high living and loose morality. A time where anything goes - and does. Amber Vrontsky is the heiress to the wealthy Pickford dynasty, presided over by the formidable Blanche. Obsessed with social climbing, Blanche wants nothing more for her granddaughter than a titled husband - a prize which she herself failed to secure, despite her immense wealth. But free spirited Amber is intent on forging her own artistic career with the silk she loves so much. Unable to disobey Blanche, however, she moves to society London to become a debutante - and enters a world of illicit affairs, drug-taking, gambling, lavender marriages! From the lavish decadence of society London to the opium dens of th

My Thoughts: This is the first book I've read by Penny. I really enjoyed it. After I read it, I went to look for more books by her and discovered that she's written a ton of Harlequin romance type books...not so much my thing. But, this book is the first in a trilogy, so I'm excited for the other ones to come out. I read that readers who like Danielle Steel and Penny Vicenzi will like this book also.

34.
Title: Every Secret Thing
Author: Laura Lippman
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4/5

Two 11-year-old children-good girl Alice Manning and bad girl Ronnie Fuller-wander homeward in Baltimore after being kicked out of a friend's pool party. They discover a baby in an unattended carriage by the front door of a house and steal it away. The reader watches in horror, knowing what will come next. The baby dies, and Alice and Ronnie are imprisoned for seven years. The mystery involves which girl did the killing, and which was the dupe. After release from prison, their blighted lives move inexorably toward further horror and tragedy.

My Thoughts: I liked this book. I may have been slow to catch on, but the ending was a suprise to me. I like it when that happens!!

35.
Title: Tomorrow's Promises
Author: Anna Jacobs
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5

Ellen Dawson is glad when the Great War ends, but sad that Lady Bingram's aides are to be disbanded. She can't bear to go back into service again after working as a driver and mechanic in London. But she is forced by her mother's illness to accept her old position as housemaid in order to stay in the small Lancashire town, and her stepfather will stop at nothing to get her under his control again. Meanwhile, Seth Talbot is also facing difficulties when he takes over as local policeman in a town where the law has been flouted for years ...

My Thoughts: This book was ok. It's set in England after the war is over. I think my problem was that I don't really know about this time period, so it seems a bit far fetched to me to think that people meet once or twice, fall in love and get married....but I'm guessing that's probably how it went back then. It was a good story, with some good twists.

36.
Title: Beach House
Author: Jane Green
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating: 4.5/5

She's known as the crazy woman who lives in the big old rambling house on the top of a bluff in Nantucket, but at sixty-five-years old, Nan doesn't care what people think. If her neighbours are away, why shouldn't she skinny dip in their swimming pools? Her husband died twenty years ago, her beauty has faded, her family flown, and when she discovers that the money she thought would last forever is running out and she may lose her beloved house, she knows she has to make drastic changes. Slowly people start moving in to the house, filling it with noise again, with laughter, and with tears. There is Daniel, recently divorced and a father of two girls, who is struggling to find out who he really is, and Daff, the single mother of a truculent teenager who blames her unreservedly for the divorce. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family extending. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor throws all their lives upside down.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but a good one.

Books 79 - 80 / 100

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:29:17 GMT

79. George Sand: A Woman's Life Writ Large - Belinda Jack
            This was a biography of George Sand, a 19th century French writer. As crazily famous and influential as she was at the time (on speaking terms with Bonaparte, good friends with Flaubert, longtime lover of Chopin), she's not so well-known now, at least not outside France. The book focuses on her life, not her oeuvre, as being the most important thing about her. She wasn't a woman who adhered to any hard and fast rules, but concentrated on living her life. Just so happens she wanted to live her life writing novels, having lovers, wearing pants, and smoking cigars. Wild.
80. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A.J. Jacobs
         Pretty much just what the subtitle tells you. This author, who previously wrote a book on reading the whole Encyclopedia Britannica, now tries to follow the Bible literally. He grows his beard, he wears light colored clothes, he eats fruit from trees that are older than 5 years, he writes the 10 Commandmants on his door jamb.
         This is a funny book. When I tell people that, they immediately think it isn't serious. That it's just a big joke at the expense of religion and the Bible. But really, the author is funny. His style is funny. But he is definitely serious about taking a closer look at an important book and seeing why it changes so many people's lives and what they gain from it.

#40

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:56:42 GMT

Today, I finished reading a graphic novel based on a novel series that I loved, way back when. This collection is called Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and it's a good rendition of some of the tales that Leiber wrote about these rogues. Worth a look, either in the collections, or the graphic novel.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:01:45 GMT

Cross posted to personal lj, 50bookchallenge and 15000pages

9. The woods are dark - Richard Laymon (215 pgs)
Horror

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It's obviously meant as shock horror and every single page has something happening to it. There isn't a single scene in this book that is boring, or unimaginative -- that being said, some of it I think was made just to shock the reader into going 'oh my god, he did not just write that..'. I think the appeal is how apparently, when it was first released, there were so many cuts and edits that the book today isn't the book it was before. I don't know. It was entertaining but nothing exciting.

Grade: B

- Fast paced, amazing descriptions, but nothing exciting.

10. Haunted - Chuck Pahlaniuk (432 pgs)
Psychological, Horror

Okay. This book is on every single 'disturbing books' list I've ever read and i don't know if I'm just really jaded but I did not find it that terrifying. Yes, there are some images you wish you could bleach out of your brain, and yes, the situation itself is just terrifying but at the same time, I found myself unable to suspend my beliefs to read this so for me, that ruins the horror feel. It's well written, and very intriguing, and I did enjoy the style. It was interesting to have the story itself intersped with short stories that explained the characters and such. Still, I don't think it deserves the title of disturbing novel.

Grade: B
- Entertaining, and well-written but I couldn't believe the story at all.

11. The Fairy Godmother - Mercedes Lackey (496 pgs)
Fantasy

I love Mercedes Lackey and I absolutely adore her "Five Hundred Kingdoms" world. In this universe, fairy tales exist and are guided by something called "The Tradition". The tradition plays a role in every single person's life and does so in a fun way. This book is an introduction to her series and centres around a Cinderella type girl who, because of circumstances, never gets to meet her Prince. Because of this, she's so filled with magic, that a Fairy Godmother takes her as an apprentice and teachers her how to use the Tradition to her advantage. Of course, she has to meet her own Prince eventually and live happily ever after. I really enjoyed this story and it's so easy to read and delve into that I had to get the rest of the books in this series.

Grade: A

- Fun and entertaining. Very well-explained and the characters amused me to no end.

12. One Good Knight - Mercedes Lackey (400 pgs)
Fantasy.

Still in the Five Hundred Kingdoms universe. This story is a re-telling of the greek myth of Andromeda, complete with fire breathing dragons. I don't really know what else to say about it other than it's just as good as the first book in the series and entertaining without pause.

Grade: A

- Amusing, and an easy read.

13. Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey (400 pgs)
Fantasy.

See a trend here? Same universe, and this one is a re-telling of the Little Mermaid. I especially like how she puts her own spin on things, and I love the independent female. I only wish that romance wasn't such a big part of these books because I'd really like to see a girl kick ass and take names without having her partner there. But that's just me.

Grade: A

- Fluffy books are always a nice break.

13 / 100 books. 13% done!

4069 / 50000 pages. 8% done!

*As a bonus, I reviewed On the Beach last time, and I went and got the movie. For any one who absolutely LOVES the book, the movie is okay but doesn't really add anything. In fact, to be honest, I think it actually detracted from the book because instead of staying true to Towers' character, the director HAD to make sure that Dwight and Moira got together and proclaimed their undying love for one another. Sigh. Other than this, I found it to be a fairly accurate take on the book but I really just could not get over the love storyline.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:14:28 GMT

Started on 12/26/08:

1. Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling - Pretty good, cute and short. It was just nice to have another excuse to dip into the Harry Potter world again, to be honest.

2. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin - His memoir, it was okay, I was actually expecting better. I'm usually really into books like this, like I loved Live from New York and Hollywood Causes Cancer by Tom Green...but this one was just okay for me, nothing special.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling - Okay so I remember this being my favorite but I re-read it and I don't know if it's still my favorite. I love Lupin though and the series is still fantastic. The end.

4. Red Carpet Suicide by Perez Hilton - It was an okay book for what it was. I mean if your obsessed with celebrities specifically ones that are famous for being famous you'll like this book, if you're not then you won't. I thought it was ehh.

5. Youtube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts by Alan Lastufka and Michael Dean - It was okay, I mean I feel like I already knew all the stuff that I read. It wasn't as helpful as I thought and I listened to what it says and I still don't really get any subscribers (www.youtube.com/dignityandmoney is my channel in case you were wondering, haha). Then again for help books like thisit's hard to really have a definite answer on how to succeed because really there isn't a definite answer. I was just looking for something I knew I probably wouldn't find. I think for the most part, this book was extremely thorough and did it's best to inform you on everything surrounding the world of youtube.

6. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates - It was pretty good. Really depressing though, but you expect that. As you're reading the book you know something is going to go down at the end. But it makes me really want to see the movie.

7. My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler - Hilarious. If you're a fan of her and/or you loved her other book, this one is just as good. I definitely recommend it.

8. Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen - It was okay. I had to read it for class. I didn't hate it but I didn't like it. I was expecting it to be better since it's such a big, popular play and I kind of wanted to see it on Broadway...now I could do without seeing it.

9. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen - I felt pretty much the same about this play as I did for Hedda Gabler.

10. Created By by Steven Prigge - About writing TV with tips from a bunch of TV writers (like Bill Lawrence from Scrubs) I had to read it for school. It was boring and didn't really explain much. It expected you to already knew what it was talking about.

11. The Dutchman by Amiri Baraka - Pretty intense play. I had to re-read the ending to make sure what happened really happened.

12. Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gilman - Very different play, that's for sure. I kind of liked it, but it was creepy. The ending though I thought was a cop-out.

13. The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein - Hated it. So boring. And Heidi is boring. Waste of time.

14. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer - Definitely an improvement from New Moon, which I hated, but it was eh. I mean it just kind of ended..it seemed like just a book used to bridge New Moon and Breaking Dawn. Because nothig really serious happened except Victoria finally getting killed and Bella realizing she loves Jacob too?? But come on she's not ever going to leave Edward so I don't get why she's all upset. My friend told me after reading Twilight the rest are just "eh" and I'm really starting to agree with her.

15. Angels in America: Part 1 by Tony Kushner - Honestly, I was expecting better, I look forward to part 2 though...it seems better.

16. For Colored Girls who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange - Its a "choreoplay or poem" so it read weird but I bet live it would be something interesting to watch.

17. The Reader by Bernard Schlink - I actually liked the movie better than the book. I think because some parts weren't as descriptive, like the court scene and stuff. It was just better to see performed than read. It was good though.

18. The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler- I kind of was expecting better. Some parts were funny but some parts were just gross to me. I don't know, it didn't live up to reputation.

19. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk - So I ran out of things to read and reread this. It's one of my favorite books so you can't go wrong really, awesome book.

20. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - I watched the movie and really enjoyed it, the book is a bit different. I think the movie was a lot more entertaining but I also liked the book. I kind of liked the plot more in the movie than in the book, like how it follows both Norah + Nick and Caroline because Caroline was hardly mentioned in the book. The book was cool though because it was basically Nick's perspective one chapter then Norah's perspective the next, which I thought was a pretty cool way to write it. But yeah it was pretty good.

21. Woyzeck by Georg Buchner - I was confused throughout the beginning but then it became very clear to me what was going on and then obviously at the end. I thought it was a pretty good play. Short, too.

22. The Seagull by Anton Chekov - I really liked this play. I feel like it was timeless and the little jokes that were in it still worked. And yeah, it was just a really good play.

23. Hardboiled Wonderland at the End of the World by Haruki Murakami - I really didn't like this book. I didn't understand what was going on until halfway and even when I found out I was still confused. I just didn't like it at all.

24. The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco - This was such a hilarious play. So completely random and didn't make sense, but I just loved it. I read it aloud with my class and we used fake british accents, haha. So maybe that's why it was so entertaining.

25. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sarte - It was okay. It's hard to explain but some parts kind of dragged for me other parts were pretty good. I underlined a lot of lines though because some stuff was pretty insightful.

26. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - Not a big fan. I read it before. But reading it aloud in class does make it funnier, it's not Bald Soprano though.

27. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - Oh man, SO much better than Looking for Alaska! At least I thought so. Really funny and entertaining. I recommend it!

28. Stranger than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk - Mainly articles he's written. Some were boring but the interview ones like with Juliette Lewis and Marilyn Manson I thought were interesting as was the last part which was a bunch of little stories about his life. So yeah it was half and half for me. Half boring but half really interesting.

29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling - Re-read. Not my favorite, but not my least favorite. I love Bill and Fleur. Can't wait for the movie. The end.

30. Paper Towns by John Green - I liked it, I didn't think it was as good as Katherines, I felt some parts just dragged as Q rambled about Margo, but for the most part it was a really interesting storyline and I learned what paper towns are which is pretty cool.

31. Truth in Comedy by Charna Halpern - This is like my 2nd or 3rd time reading it. It's about long form improv called the Harold. It's great if you're into that. I am, so I love it.

32. Speaking with Angels by Nick Hornby - This book was really uninternesting. It was a bunch of short stories from people like Nick Hornby, Dave Eggers, and Colin Firth and it was just...mreh. I was kind of disappointed. Some stories were funny but a lot were disappointing.

33. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - This book sucked. With such an awesome concept of time travel...they made it soooo boring. I didn't connect with the characters at all, I didn't even LIKE the characters, at all. I was so glad that it ended I didn't even care what happened to the main character. Definitely one of the worst books I have ever read.

34. Generation of Swine by Hunter S. Thompson - It was okay. I mean for the most part he was talking about politics of the 80's and since I wasn't around very long in the 80's it was hard to kind of follow. Not his best, let's just say.

35. Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares - Yeah, the 4th traveling pants book. I liked these when I was younger and I saw it in the library and had to rent it. Guilty pleasure, haha. I haven't read the last few books in years though so sometimes it was hard to remember some things though. It was cute though. Better than the last few books I've read, that's for sure, haha.

36. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - I was actually really disappointed with this book. From all the hype I had such high expectactions and it was just mreh. I didn't really like it at all...

37. Pure Drivel by Steve Martin - Really funny, my favorite book of his so far, definitely. Better than his memoir and (barf) Shop Girl. Short and sweet too.

38. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris - I really enjoyed this book. Really funny, as usual by Mr. Sedaris. Though I haven't read any of his books in a while so it was kind of refreshing to read his style of writing again. Good stuff.

39. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides - And now for something completely different. Though I did like this book. Depressing yet it just kept making you want to read it more. I saw the movie a while ago but forgot a lot of it. So yeah, another good one. Hooray!

40. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I loved this book! It took me a bit to get into it but when I did, yo, it was awesome. Also, I can really see this being a movie just the descriptions and all the action. Watch out right after HP and Twilight this is next man! Haha, maybe, I'd kinda like it to be. The ending was kind of mreh though, but I guess since it's part of a series it has to leave you hanging.

41. Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk - Pretty much the exact opposite of how I felt about the Hunger Games. I hated how it was written and just hated it from the start. Which is weird because I'm a typically a Palahniuk fan, but this one? Nope. I just couldn't get into it and once I realized this I kind of sped read through it just to get it over with.

Books 10-15

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:21:47 GMT

I am so far behind it pains me. I probably will have to count plays again to actually hit fifty this year. Reason number 872 why I'm looking forward to going on leave from my theatre company next spring: more time for reading.

10. The Dark Half - Stephen King
Can't say I was completely mad about it - it's clearly one of the books from King's 'not part of this universe due to drug/alcohol abuse' period. However, overall I enjoyed it and there were parts that enthralled me, as King always does. I love Thad. And it was interesting reading this after having read Needful Things - reading the books out of order didn't hinder me at all, and actually kept me going because I wanted to know how Alan evolved from this to Needful Things.

11 - 13. Diaries of the Family Dracul Series - Jeanne Kalogridis
I was on board the 'let's make a prequel to a classic novel' up until the 'let's include the classic novel as part of the story, but change a whole lot of really important themes, ideas, characters and plot to make them fit in the new author's storyline and worldview' bit. Then came the wanting to scream and yell and throw the book across the room part (I refrained from throwing, but I did yell a couple times).
This whole series has been an up and down experience for me. Some of the characters I thought were really well done; others I did not. The way the story tied itself to the original novel of Dracula was interesting... at first, but the farther it got, the more convoluted and absurd it became. Hence the changing major aspects of the original to fit into this wacky new world.
A lot of this had to do with certain plot points and character developments that were completely unnecessary. That and the sexual depravity. There already is what I refer to as a 'Lesbian Spank Inferno Dracula.' It's porn with a little bit of plot thrown in... ish. One of these types of books is enough. It really wasn't needed in this book, too. Or any other book for that matter.
Overall the series was an interesting read, however I'd like to erase this final book from my memory. I hold Stoker's novel on a pedestal, and I do so for a reason. So when a book comes along that changes nearly everything that makes Dracula special, unique, fascinating, horrific and epic, for no reason other than to make it fit a new author's ideas of what a vampire novel should be, I become quite flummoxed and displeased.

14. High School Musical: Stories from East High - Battle of the Bands
Shut up. I had a bad day. It was there. I read it.
Thank you, Disney ghostwriters for furthering my twisted imaginings of these movies. I really needed more fodder for my Rycycle theories.

15. Summer of the Danes (Brother Cadfael Book 18) - Ellis Peters
My mom's been trying to get me to read these books for years. This one she sent me in a package with other stuff as a hint. Finally got round to it and have to say while I was really impressed with the writing and style, I wasn't mad about it overall. They story was intriguing and some of the characters well done, it just didn't pull me in the way it seems to do for my mom. Also, not speaking a bit of Welsh, or Danish, a lot of the names and places made my head hurt... and made me want to learn Welsh.

Up Next:
The Black Arrow - Robert Louis Stevenson

26. Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:33 GMT

Title: Interred With Their Bones
Author: Jennifer Lee Carrell
Year: 2007
# of pages: 405
Date read: 4/12/2009
Rating: 3*/5 = good

Description:

"A long-lost work of Shakespeare, newly found. . .a killer who stages the Bard's extravagant murders as flesh-and-blood realities. . .a desperate race to find literary gold, and just to stay alive. . .

On the eve of the Globes production of Hamlet, Shakespeare scholar Kate Stanley's eccentric mentor gives her a mysterious box, claiming to have made a groundbreaking discovery. Before she can reveal it to Kate, however, terrifying echoes of the past break through to the present: The Globe burns, and a body is found inside -- murdered in the strange manner of Hamlet's father. Opening the box, Kate finds the first piece in a Shakespearean puzzle that sets her off on a deadly, high-stakes treasure hunt, racing from England to Spain to America.

An expert in occult Shakespeare, Kate knows better than anyone the many secrets, half-truths, codes, and curses surrounding his life and work. On the trail of a four-hundred-year-old mystery, she soon realizes that the prize at the end promises to unlock literary history's greatest secret.

But Kate is not alone in his hunt, and the buried truth threatens to come at the ultimate cost. . . ." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a very good literary thriller set in London, Harvard and the American southwest. I liked the mix of literary clues set in archives and libraries.

Recent Reads

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:51:24 GMT

Thought i'd post since i've finished 2 books since my last post. I was very excited to finally read The Rule Of Four By Ian Caldwell...And now i know why. What a great book.

The Rule Of Four By: Ian Caldwel & Dustin Thomason
This book is basically a riddle. It is set at Princeton with 4 seniors who are friends and roommates. Basically one guy, Tom his father dedicated his life to studying a book called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Tom recalls his dad being obsessed with figuring it out. There is a couple of professors who have also dedicated a fair amount of time studying it as well. Tom meets Paul another senior who is writing a thesis on the book. Paul had read the books that Tom's father had written about the book and finally was able to meet Tom through a search he'd done of the student registry. The story goes on as the two of them with help from their friends try to solve the mystery of the book.

It was a lot like The Davici Code...But a very good book...I would suggest to anyone who likes this type of reading to give it a try. I am currently searching for other books like this one to read.

The Heroin Diaries By: Nikki Sixx
This is basically a book of diary entries that Nikki Sixx the Bass Player for the band Motley Crue kept over the course of a year. It was during a point in his life when he was addicted to heroin and coke when Motley was touring for their Girls Girls Girls album. I am a hair metal lover and love Motley Crue so of course this would be a great book to me even if it wasn't a very good read...LOL It was an awesome read. Well worth picking it up. I have to say it is a little over 400 pages and i read it in 3 days. I had a hard time putting it down. What i loved about it was at certain parts of the book various people mentioned in the entries would give a bit of a commentary on how it was back then with him. So sorta the Nikki now vs the Nikki then. It was very interesting and informative.

My book list:
Books I've Read: (Strike through means finished)
1. Ghost Hunting By Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson
2. High Hopes: The Amityville Murders By Gerard Sullivan
3. Artemis Fowl By Eoin Colfer
4. The Mothman Prophecies By John Keel
5. The Rule Of Four By Ian Caldwel & Dustin Thomason
6. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident By Eoin Colfer
7. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code By Eoin Colfer
8. Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception By Eoin Colfer
9. Artemis Fowl: The Last Colony By Eoin Colfer
10. Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox By Eoin Colfer
11. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone By J.K. Rowling (In Progress)
12. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets By J.K. Rowling
13. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban By J.K. Rowling
14. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire By J.K. Rowling
15. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix By J.K. Rowling
16. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince By J.K. Rowling
17. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hollows By J.K. Rowling
~~18. The Heroin Diaries By Nikki Sixx~~
19. Thr3e By Ted Dekker
20. Obsessed By Ted Dekker
21. Roses & Thorns By Bret Michaels
22. The Davici Code By Dan Brown
23. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
24. Motley Crue: The Dirt - Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band By Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx & Mick Mars
25. The Real Rule Of Four By Joscelyn Godwin
26. Did Lizzie Borden axe for it? : a new look at the woman and the murder case By David Rehak
27. The Borden tragedy : a memoir of the infamous double murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892 By Rick Geary
28. Lizzie Borden : The Untold Story By Edward D. Radin
29. The Stranger Beside Me By Ann Rule
30. The Only Living Witness : The True Story Of Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy By Stephen G. Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth.
31. The Milwaukee Murders : Nightmare In Apartment 213-- The True Story By Don Davis
32. Helter Skelter : The True Story Of The Manson Murders By Vincent Bugliosi, with Curt Gentry

From this list you get a pretty good idea of what i like...LOL Any suggestions would be great...Always looking for new interesting stuff to read.

Vinnie

#39

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:48:18 GMT

This evening, while I ate, I finished another Osprey book, this one being Campaign #199: Philippi 42 BC: The Death of the Roman Republic, about the fight between Brutus/Cassius against Octavion/Mark Antony. Nice bits about their training similarities; background on the politics. These Osprey books have good, solid historical data.

Against a Fine Fool; Catering to Wonder

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:22:23 GMT

A Fine Ending, by Louis Rastelli
I bought this novel because it was set in Montreal in the 90s and that's also what I liked best about it. But the matter of fact prose is somehow rather tasty as well.
(126/275, 5/75)

To Play the Fool, by Laurie R. King
The language, setting, and characterization in this mystery were really enjoyable. The plot felt like a bit of a pretext but I didn't mind much because I was caught up in the story anyway.
(127/275, 6/75)

Against a Dark Background, by Iain M. Banks
This is very smart and very literary space opera, and I really didn't care for it until about halfway through. After which I thought it was awesome, go figure.
(128/275, 7/75)

Catering to Nobody, by Diane Mott Davidson
I liked Cereal Murders well enough that I picked up a bunch of her other books - and I've finally got around to tackling the series in order. This one made such good vacation reading that I may save the others for the same purpose...
(129/275, 8/75)

Tales of Wonder, by Huston Smith with Jeffrey Paine
Things I like: 1) autobiographies, 2) travel books, 3) religious books that aren't too dogmatic, 4) charming old men. Big surprise, I really enjoyed this short, crisp look at the famous religion writer's own life.
(130/275)

Book number 1

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:56:25 GMT

I just finished reading Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mentchev.

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith lives in the Theatre Illuminata along with every character from every play ever written, that is, until the Theatre Manager tells her she must leave. Now Bertie has to prove that she's indispensable to the Theater to stay. But that might be somewhat difficult with unruly fairies for sidekicks, a pirate for a best friend, and one pissed off Air Spirit that may or may not be Bertie's weakness. Can Bertie save the theatre, keep her home, and find out who she is before the final curtain?

This book is definitely a good light read for Theatre / Literature nerds. Very witty and enchanting. The book itself is well written and leaves room for a sequel.

updating.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:02:12 GMT

Hello everyone :D
I'm Gia, and I joined this community back in January under a different username. You can find my first post here..

Since reading my first book, I have read 2 more and am still stuck on Jane Eyre.

Might I recommend anything by Nicholas Sparks. His verbiage is fantastic and his books are very easy to read and digest. The two books I read were Dear John and Message in a Bottle, both by Sparks. I read "Dear John" from midnight into the wee hours of the morning because I could not put it down no matter how hard I tried. "Message in a Bottle" I took on my recent trip out of state. I was mezmerized on the plane ride, and before I knew it I had read almost half the book within my 3+ hours of flight. It only took me another two days to finish; despite my busy schedule I found time to pick up this book.

Message in a Bottle (amazon.com's review)
If you thought The Notebook was a tearjerker, get out the hankies, pull up a chair, and get ready to have your heart monkey-wrenched by Nicholas Sparks's second star-crossed love story, Message in a Bottle. When Theresa Osborne takes a much-needed summer holiday at Cape Cod, she finds a lot more than a break from the hustle and bustle. On an early-morning jog along Cape Cod Bay, she comes across a corked bottle with a scrolled-up message inside that reads, "My Dearest Catherine, I miss you, my darling, as I always do, but today is especially hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together..." It bobbles around in the same vein for several more paragraphs and ends with "...am alone on the pier and I do not care what others think as I bow my head and cry and cry and cry. Garret."
Garret may eat quiche, but no bother--before you can say "Look! I found two more letters!" Theresa is hot on his trail and determined to find this mysterious yet sensitive message-in-a-bottle man. She finds him at a sleepy North Carolina port, working on his beloved sailboat, The Happenstance. From there, a romance buds and blossoms into a colorful bouquet of emotional baggage. Theresa has problems with her past--or, more accurately, her past is a problem. She is so scarred from her "I'm a super churchgoing guy now that I've run out on my wife" ex-husband that she hasn't tried to date since her divorce some three or four years before. And who is Catherine? And what's Garret's bag, anyway? When Theresa finds out, she plunges to the depths of her soul and uncorks a whopper of a secret about herself, bringing Garret to terms with who he really is.

Dear John (amazon.com's review)
In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, hardly anyone, not even the late night comedians, knew what to say. Now, more than five years later, the roster of books and films addressing 9/11 and its consequences has grown long. There are explorations of religion and foreign policy, memoirs of life on the 21st-century battlefield, depictions of global culture, investigations, predictions and elegies. With Nicholas Sparks's contribution to the list, Dear John, we see our political climate in yet another light: candlelight, maybe. Or moonlight.
Narrator John Tyree is a wayward son of Wilmington, N.C., reformed first by the service (he seems to shed most of his rebelliousness at boot camp) and later by love. John meets Savannah Lynn Curtis while home on leave, in June of 2000. Savannah, a rising senior at UNC, is spending her summer building houses for those without. The couple share two fleeting weeks -- including an innocent scene under a half-built roof that's as big-screen-ready as they come -- before John must return to his post in Germany. For more than a year, he pines and she endures, counting the days until he will be honorably discharged.

Then the Twin Towers fall. Rather than returning to his love, John reenlists. In January 2003, his unit is sent into Turkey, then transferred to Kuwait. In March, he takes part in the invasion of Iraq. While John's days play out in the desert (when asked about his time there, all he mentions is the sand), Savannah must face her own unlucky destiny. Finally, with the death of John's father, whose somewhat unbelievable tale provides the main subplot of the book, the two are reunited and left to sort things out amid their tears and ours.

It isn't hard to picture John Tyree. We can simply imagine his predecessors, men in uniform staring pensively from earlier wartime romances. Apart from the occasional detail -- e-mail, cellphone, Outback Steakhouse -- Dear John could take place in any modern American era. For Sparks, weighty matters of the day remain set pieces, furniture upon which to hang timeless tales of chaste longing and harsh fate. Only in a novel such as this could we find our political buzzwords -- peacekeeping, IEDs, hurricane relief -- interspersed with these sentiments: "And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever."

I give Dear John 4/5 stars & Message in a Bottle 5/5 stars.
Both are definitely a must read :D

Books 101-125

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:49:01 GMT

Wide range of genres and a couple of sentences to each title. I never include rereads nor are books that I started but didn't finish included. I'm in the middle of reading like ten books at the moment... hopefully I'll finish them soon. I've finally decided that I'm going to set my goal to three hundred books this year and at least seventy-five before Uni starts up again in October.

100. Fun with a Pencil by Andrew Loomis

Not great. A lot of drawing, and basically the same as every other drawing book I've read. He's supposed to be great, but I didn't really enjoy this book.

101. Generation S.L.U.T. by Marty Beckerman

This was full of quotes, statistics and then there were these parts with these characters talking about stories. I don't know -- I didn't really like this book. I thought it would be a lot different than it actually was. I get it -- this generation, my generation -- is a lot more sexually active/mature/whatever. And while some of the statistics were interesting, I really didn't get the point of this book with its stories mixed with quotes -- lots of quotes.

102. For Girls Only by Carol Weston

Probably a good book to read when you're a teen or adolescent. It's all about feeling good about yourself and is quite inspiring. I might recommend it to my younger sisters, but this just didn't do it for me. Then again, it's probably an age thing...

103. Geek High by Piper Banks

Pretty meh. It's your typical YA novel, but with little romance and little plot. I liked it when I was reading it, but then it just... ended. I learned that there is a sequel, though, so I think I might like it better. This was definitely not one of my favorite books. The MC was just too... I don't know. She had her math and that was about it.

104. The Little Book of Essential Foreign Swear Words by Emma Burgess

Well, since the German translations were all correct, I'm going to assume that this is an up-to-date book with proper swear words in all languages. It's never fun when you try to swear at someone and they have no absolute idea what you said, because it's something that hasn't been used in twenty years. I think a pronunciation guide would have been handy, though. Because that's just as lame -- swearing at someone and saying something completely different because you didn't pronounce it correctly.

105. Confessions of a Teen Nanny by Victoria Ashton

Cute. I liked the main character. When I turned twenty-one, I actually considered becoming a nanny and even though I know now that it would be a horrible job for me, I still like reading books about it. Adrienne was sweet and I liked Liz too.

106. Rich Girls by Victoria Ashton

Second in the series. Liked this book as well. You've really got to wonder about Camille. And I feel bad for Emily.

107. Juicy Sercets by Victoria Ashton

Third in the series -- and last, I assume. Camille gets what is due to her, Liz and Parker work things out and Adrienne learns a lesson. I'd like a fourth book, but things were pretty well tied up in the end. A nice end to a cute series.

108. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

The problem with this book is that I was listening to it on my way to and from Uni -- and I kept on laughing. This causes people to stare at you. I so love her books, because they always make me laugh. Her other series are, I admit, not exactly my thing, but I love the Stephanie Plum books, and this was no exception. And Diesel was back again, which was cool. There was also some more insight into Diesel. Great book -- just probably not the best thing to listen to when in public.

109. Cut by Patricia McCormick

The book was okay. I just didn't feel that into it. I think my favorite thing about the book was that the old reality TV show Rescue 911 was featured -- and I loved that show as a kid. I started watching it again on Youtube because of this book.

110. Secrets of a Pregnant Princess

Meh. Pretty basic romance novel. Princess sleeps with someone who turns out to be a jerk, realizes that she is pregnant, her body guard springs in and marries her so that she will not be shamed...they fall in love. I think this is probably part of a series, because there were events referenced that while not important to the plot, seemed like there was more to them. But to give the author credit, everything did make sense and I never felt as if I were missing any actual knowledge.

111. Angels A to Z by Evelyn Dorothy Oliver and James R. Lewis

Interesting. This isn't a huge guide -- there were details that I actually knew better. But I found it interesting and it's a good reference about the angels I haven't researched to death. There's also other stuff in there and it explains everything quite well.

112. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

As an insomniac myself, I found this interesting. And I did like it. I just... don't see why everyone is in love with Sarah Dessen. She writes well, but none of her books make me go "whoa" or anything. I did like Auden and Eli. And I guess Auden's insomnia made sense. I just feel like it's no wonder she's an insomniac... she's basically forcing herself to be one. I don't know -- I didn't really love that part of the book.

113. Web Mage by Kelly McCullough

This book was interesting. I found the beginning very confusing and I still don't get the entire background, but somewhere in the last half it started to really pick up. You definitely need some basic programming knowledge, though, and probably some knowledge in Greek mythology.

114. Cybermancy by Kelly McCullough

Second in the series. Definitely better to get into. Ravirn is really growing on me, and I liked the interaction with Cerberus. He really makes Persephone sympathetic. And of course, Ravirn and Cerice are back.

115. Codespell by Kelly McCullough

Really enjoyed this. The programming/computer stuff gets more complicated, but the author still manages to explain it in terms that I could understand. Ravirn is exploring his powers as the Raven, Cerice is caught between him and her family, Tisiphone is stuck in the middle and it's a great book.

116. MythOS by Kelly McCullough

I didn't like this one as much, since I didn't really get the whole Norse Pantheon thing. But I liked the book and now I want to know what is going to happen to next. Tisiphone's decision was definitely unexpected and I felt bad for Ravirn. And once again, chaos follows him around as he learns about his new powers.

117. Flawless by Sarah Shepard

Second in the Pretty Little Liars series. I read the first one earlier this year and couldn't find the others until now. Whoa, is all I can say. Great book, holds up the expectations of the first one. Ends, like the first one, on a cliff hanger.

118. Perfect by Sarah Shepard

Third in the series. Loved it. Gobbled it down so I could read the next one. A few questions are answered but more questions are posed as the story progresses. What an ending, I really hoped that Hannah would be okay.

119. Unbelievable by Sarah Shepard

Fourth in the series. We find out who A is. I had my suspicions, but eventually dismissed them -- guess I shouldn't have. And the way the whole mystery tied together... shocking. Great book.

120. Wicked by Sara Shepard

Fifth in the series. A may be gone... or are they? Is it a copy cat or someone else? Again, few questions are answered while so many more are posed. The series is so amazing... it really grabs your attention. And I like the cliff hangers at the end of each book, though it's probably going to drive me insane waiting for the 6th one to come out. I read three and a half of these books today because I couldn't quit. Great series.

121. The Boyfriend Game by Stephie Davis

Cute. I enjoyed this. A quick read and I liked Trish a lot. Graham was sweet too and I think this is a great book for teen girls to read, about staying true to themselves and all.

122. Bullyville by Francine Prose

Meh. I thought this would be a lot better than it was. The whole Nola thing kind of threw me, but the rest of the book was rather bland.

123. Wings by Aprilynne Pike

I've heard this compared to Twilight and Stephenie Meyers endorsed it, so I was very sceptical. But I was quite surprised. This isn't my favorite book or anything, but the characters are engaging, there isn't any stalking, the main character seems to actually have a brain and she doesn't instantly alienate herself from everyone at school because of a guy. The whole take on fairies is interesting. I'll probably read the second one.

124. Pregnant: Father Wanted by Claire Baxter

Ugh. I really had to force myself to get through this one. I'm not a fan of romance novels, to be honest. It was a sweet ending and all, but I could have predicted the ending after reading the first chapter. I have to admit that for a Harelquin romance, this one was surprisingly free of anything more than kissing. I guess it was the fact that Alyssa is pregnant, but I think this is the only Harlequin book I've read where they don't have sex -- or even suggest it.

125. Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni

Not absolutely brilliant, but I enjoyed it. The characters were quite real. And I admit that I have a certain softspot for novels like this, that take on "high society".

Book 19 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:48:46 GMT

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary: Panem, a country built on the ruins of what was once North America, is governed by the Capitol, the cruel governing force which keeps the outlying twelve districts of Panem in line through fear tactics, namely The Hunger Games. For the Games, one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district are chosen in the Reaping and sent to the Capitol to compete in a deadly competition against one another. The Games are brutal and the tributes, as the children are called, kill each other off until only one survivor remains. The survivor is then given a life of luxury and brings honor to their district. Everyone in Panem is required to watch the televised broadcast of the Games - the Capitol's display of power and their cruel way of discouraging the districts from rebellion. When Katniss Everdeen's twelve-year-old sister, Prim, is selected as the girl tribute for District 12, Katniss sacrifices herself to protect Prim. She and her fellow tribute, a boy named Peeta Mellark, whom Katniss has known since childhood, journey together to the Capitol along with Haymitch, a previous Hunger Games winner from their district and the man who will prepare them for the actual Games. When the Games begin, Katniss faces not only the danger of her fellow competitors, but many other terrifying obstacles created by the Gamemakers. She must also face the internal struggle of survival against humanity.

My Review: I loved The Hunger Games. Absolutely loved it. Which is odd because this is generally not my type of book at all. Futuristic novels tend to give me the creeps, especially when they're about cruel, controlling governments. But even though The Hunger Games is futuristic and deals greatly with the idea of oppressive government, I could not put it down. Katniss's narration is fascinating; there is never a dull moment in this book. Suzanne Collins does a wonderful job of putting the reader in Katniss's shoes; I could feel my own stomach twisting with anticipation and dread when Katniss is waiting in the arena for the Games to begin. Overall I thought it was a brilliant book and very original, which is a hard thing to come by in YA lit today. The Hunger Games stands completely on its own; there is nothing else like it.

Falling behind!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:15:27 GMT

I've probably already read 50 "books" this year, but I decided to only count things outside of my assigned reading - I definitely don't read for pleasure often enough.

#1:Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. 5/5.
I guess I was just reading the wrong Gibson.

I took a class on 19th century science fiction as a credit toward my (now minor) major in English. Our prof. emailed us a list of modern science fiction to check out over the summer, and Gibson was one of the authors on his "short list." I'd attempted to read Neuromancer in high school, but tossed it because of a rather off-putting scene that named one very particular part of the male anatomy one too many times, not to mention lots of really big words, some of which I was certain he'd just made up.

Needless to say, I was really hesitant to pick up a second book by Gibson, but one of my friends convinced me that Pattern Recognition was a much brisker read, and indeed it was. Wikipedia says that critics "approved of the writing but found the plot unoriginal and some of the language distracting." Honestly, maybe it was, but I didn't really notice, because I was too much in love with a certain protagonist named Cayce Pollard (also known by her online alias, CayceP).

The novel takes place in 2002 in the wake of the September 11th attacks (it took me a while to realize this, since I was unaware that Tokyo is already that much fancier than the US) but still contains some very science-fiction-y elements. The story follows Cayce, a marketing specialist who is psychologically affected by advertising and design. This sensitivity means she's very valuable in the realms of design and viral marketing, but when she's hired to find the source of a series of short film clips being deposited on the internet, she ends up on a chase through London, Tokyo, and eventually, Moscow, searching for its elusive creator.

Gibson's descriptions of the internet and underground geek culture were spot on - his descriptions of certain Japanese memes made me giggle a little, reminding me of all the hours I spent obsessing over Japanese animation and clothing and god-knows-what during middle school. Fantastic.

It's a great read, and pretty easy on the sci-fi element - it reads a little bit more like a postmodern action/thriller type than anything else.

2 / 50 books. 4% done!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:55:03 GMT

37. Castle in the Air, Diana Wynne Jones (4.5)
I figured out a little too quickly just who the carpet, the genie and the cat all were. But that never detracted from the story. A great addition to this universe. Now, I need to find the third one.

38. Cart and Cwidder, Diana Wynne Jones (Dalemark Quartet #1) (5)
39. Drowned Ammet, Diana Wynne Jones (Dalemark Quartet #2) (5)
40. The Spellcoats, Diana Wynne Jones (Dalemark Quartet #3) (5)
41. The Crown of Dalemark, Diana Wynne Jones (Dalemark Quartet #4) (5)
Technically, these are re-reads, but I hadn't read these books since I was in middle school. Reading them again now was very much like visiting with very old, and very dear friends.

42. Copehnhagen, Michael Frayn (4.75)
I own the movie, which yes, is on my favorites list. Unfortunately, I missed the play last time it came through Boston, but found a copy of the play at my local library, and said, "huh!".
Definitely some differences between the two mediums, certain repetitions are removed from the film, as well as entire pieces of dialogue. Setting is different. But, oh my, did I enjoy this. Still physics meets history meets philosophy, which is what drew me to this story in the first place. If anything, this has more of the subtleness between Bohr and Heisenberg, more of the pain and connection. Margarethe came across as more real.
Well read.

43. A Kiss Before the Apocolypse, Thomas E. Sneigoski (3)
Initial reaction was that this reads like the abandoned child of Good Omens and Harry Dresden, only has none of the subtlety or humor from either.
Entertaining, and really great for that long plane ride home from Vegas (cheesy supernatural detective novel, I told the flight attendant, mind candy), but not something I'd necessarily pick up again.
There is a second book in the series, haven't decided if that's worth it or not.

44. Born in Death, J.D. Robb (3)
45. Innocent in Death, J.D. Robb (3)
46. Creation in Death, J.D. Robb (3)
More Eve Dallas novels, those futuristic crime mysteries set in 21st century NYC. Given I'm figuring out key clues before the protagonist? Enjoying these again. Somerset is still my favorite. These I will keep reading, always.

(1=bad, 3=it passed the time successfully, 5=i'd recommend this to everyone)

Book 32 for 2009

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:47:22 GMT

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

Another Harry Dresden reread.

Thomas, the White Court vampire, has helped Harry out on several occasions. Now he's asking Harry for a favour - one of his friends seems to be under a curse and Thomas wants Harry to investigate. Of course, Harry's life being what it is, things rapidly become far more complicated than that and besides the curse, Harry has to deal with Black Court vampires, supernatural hitmen, Murphy's family picnic, and possibly worst of all, the truth about his own past.

More good stuff in this one. I love the way each novel in this series build on what's gone before, but is readable on its own.

Book 71: Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:39:57 GMT

Book 71: Poppy Shakespeare.
Author: Clare Allan, 2006.
Genre: Contemporary. Satire. Black comedy. Mental Health issues.
Other Details: Paperback, 342 pages; unabridged audiobook read by Clare Corbett.

Who is mad? Who is sane? Who decides?

Poppy Shakespeare is a brilliant book that I've been enthusiastically recommending to all and sundry. It is a darkly comedic satire that takes a savage swipe at British mental health services. It manages that difficult task of being hilarious and heart-breaking by turns and yet never loses its central core of compassion or makes light of the serious issues it considers. Clare Allan was herself a mental health 'service user' (the new politically correct term) for 10 years and so has intimate inside knowledge of the institutions and their inhabitants.

The story is set in the Dorothy Fish day hospital, which is attached to the Abaddon, a large London mental health unit. That name in itself conveys something of the despair within given Abaddon's Biblical context. The book's narrator is N, who says of herself "by thirteen I been diagnosed with everything in the book. They had to start making up new disorders, just to have me covered, then three days before I turned seventeen, they shipped me up to the Abaddon to start my first six-moth section." N and her fellow day patients have no interest in being discharged and do everything they can to prevent this as they've become so institutionalised that the Dorothy Fish has become their world.

At the opening of the novel N is asked to show a new patient around the facility. This patient is Poppy Shakespeare who walks in wearing (according to N) "her six-inch skirt and her twelve-inch heels". Poppy vigorously insists that she isn't mad and that it's all a big mistake. However, in a typical 'Catch-22' situation the only way that Poppy can get legal aid to prove that she isn't mad is if she's receiving State benefits (Mad Money) as a mental health patient and to do that you have to be deemed mentally ill. N takes Poppy under her wing by helping her fill out forms and dealing with any and all situations that arise.

The novel is written in an immediate colloquial style with a lot of swearing and London slang so you get a lot of 'do you know what I mean?', 'I'm not being funny but' and similar interjections. While I had a print copy to hand I mainly listened to this on audiobook as its language and style made it an ideal book for an audio format. Its narrator captured N's voice perfectly. I even found myself slipping in the odd 'you know what I mean' into my conversations during the week I was listening to it. Ack! I had seen the excellent award-winning Channel 4 adaptation last year so I was familiar with the plot though the book is much funnier and more satirical than the film.

Even though there is plenty of humour in the novel I would caution that there are strong themes such as suicide, drug abuse, self-harm, depression, and psychosis that may be triggering for some readers.

Extract of 'Poppy Shakespeare' on The Guardian website.
Clare in the Community: How writing Poppy Shakespeare helped me reclaim my life. - Clare Allan on her experiences.

sixth post - more of Donna Fletcher

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:45:16 GMT

cross posted to gen50 and 50bookchallenge

as promised,books to post - more of Donna Fletcher.

26 - Isle of Lies
Moira marries Ian, a laird who tricks her to prevent a clan war.
And on his heels, her father arrives so she knows there was no agreement.
Still, the marriage has been consummated, and is thus, forever.
But she is a lady of knowledge, gleaned from a monk who undertook alchemy studies (fullmetal, anyone?) and their marriage, once Ian returns for her
is full of interesting experiences.

27 - Taken by Storm
Storm is a lady. and Burke is American. How the two work together for different purposes is the thing to enjoy.

28 - Magical Love 01- Wedding Spell
This starts the story of the witches, their immortality, and the nature of their work and spells. the love story here is about Sebastian, a mortal, and a young (well, relatively) witch named Ali. Memories of Bewitched flit my mind in this book. This is very light reading, and is in the tradition of romance novels all over.

29 - Magical Love 02 - Magical Moments
The story of Sabrina and Dagon, and the Ancient One. Sabrina is a soothsayer, and is spelled such that her magic is locked. The spell was cast by her sister, Tempest, a very powerful witch - and thus no one could undo what Sabrina does. Enjoy Dagon's protectiveness, something he could not understand and Sabrina's wisdom.

30 - Magical Love 03 - Magical Memories
the Ancient One is Tempest, the sister of Sabrina. In her ancient past, she loved and was seduced by Marcus, a warlock. In this world, warlocks deal in black magic, wanting the power. Tempest banishes Marcus, and yet, because of her deep love for him, she gives him a second chance. Enter Michael. Is he or isnt he Marcus, reincarnated?

31 - Magical Love 04 - Remember the Magic
Sydney and Duncan's story. As i was reading, i was thinking of the immortal, Duncan MacLeod. It even fits the time. Tempest and Michael create enough magic to give Sydney a second chance with Duncan, someone she met and loved in her past. As I was reading I remember Omar, and the line that Spock quotes in the series about the line having been written .....

i might read-i mean re-read a few Agatha Christie books. Maybe 4 to post.
or maybe some humorous book. i'll see.

#56: "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:00:01 GMT

I have seen the movie this is based upon many times, and I was curious to see how it compared.

However, perhaps this was not the best of books to read while recovering from surgery and on pain medication.

Howl's Moving Castle takes place in a zany world with prominent wizards and witches. There is the Witch of the Waste, not a figure one wants to cross. There is Howl in his moving castle who is said to eat the hearts of girls. And then there is Sophie Hatter, an absolute nobody. The eldest of three sisters and doomed to be the biggest failure, Sophie resigns herself to a dreary life of making hats. That is, until the Witch of the Waste waltzes in and without explanation changes Sophie into an old woman. Arthritic and grumpy, Sophie sets out to find her fortune and ends up cleaning house for Howl - who has his own conflict going with the Witch of the Waste.

This is a trippy little book. As odd as it seems, the movie actually toned down the craziness a good bit. I had trouble following it at times - whether that was because of my mental state or the book itself, I can't really say. I still loved Calcifer, though.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:49:38 GMT

I've tried over and over to complete the 50bookchallenge. I think now that I'm done with school (perhaps forever!) I have a lot more time to read things I want to read.

1. Rise and Shine - Jewell Florea

My dad handed me this book and told me I had to read it. He had read it already and is trying to get everyone in my family to read it. Rise and Shine isn't a book you can find on amazon. When I googled the name I got this page, describing the author. My dad received this book from one of his cousins in Kentucky. This story is a memoir of Jewell Florea's childhood in rural Kentucky. Funny enough, my dad's grandparents lived in the same part of Kentucky as Jewell's did, so they are actually mentioned in the book. This book gives a good picture of what living in a rural community is like, with no running water and going to a one room school house.

However, the thing that turned me off about the book was that I felt like it lacked a steady plot. This wasn't so much a story of Jewell's childhood but disconnected memories from it.