Bookish

Watts, Peter: Blindsight

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:19:12 GMT

Blindsight (2006)
Written by: Peter Watts
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 384 (Trade Paperback)

The premise: Earth was heading towards a happy utopian future until sixty-five thousand alien objects appeared in the sky and quickly burned to ash. All anyone knew about the encounter was that he aliens had just taken pictures. Now, in order to get more information on the interstellar neighbors spying on us, Earth scrambles together to prepare a crew for first contact, and the crew just might be stranger than the aliens they're getting ready to meet: a linguist with multiple personalities carved into her brain, a pacifist warrior whose career defining moment was an act of treason, a biologist who's so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound, a synthesist whose mind is literally half-gone, meant to observe the entire mission and report back to Earth, and a vampire, resurrected from the past using junk DNA and the blood of sociopaths, to command them all. It's part hard SF and part philosophical treatise.

My Rating

Worth the Cash: but with a warning: I feel this is a niche read, and it's certainly NOT for the SF newbie, not by a longshot. If I'd read this book when it first came out a couple of years ago, I think I would've been turned off at the time. But if you're a reader who's ready for this kind of text--which is certainly enjoyable with all of its ingredients, though not perfect--then I think you'll really enjoy this book. I'll happily read it again, which is a good and bad thing. Good because hey, I enjoyed it enough to WANT to read it again to catch what I missed the first time. Bad because, well, I missed stuff the first time that I need to catch the second. But in the end, I'm a very happy reader. How happy you will be might depend on the following:

1) If you're entertained by the notion of vampires in space, and not the magical, sexy kind populating so much urban fantasy, check out Watts's little mockumentary here to get a taste of not just Watts's voice (it's what you'll be reading, folks), but also so you can get a solid grasp on his vampires, which I feel is necessary to get BEFORE reading the book, rather than trying to piece it together WHILE reading the book. At least, it would've been nice for me. One warning, run-time is around 35-40 minutes or so, but the pause button and arrow functions prove to be quite useful if you have to stop the player and come back to it later. If you enjoy this video, if you enjoy the biology behind the vampires (and the snarky, tongue-in-cheek voice-over), then you've got a solid chance of enjoying the book.

2) Why not sample it for free? Admittedly, the whole darn thing is available online if you just can't afford to buy anything now, but if buying is an option, sample it first. I suggest the prologue and the first chapter at least (if not a little more), because it gives the reader a clear sense of how Watts's style varies, from very personal to more scientific passages. The link to the whole thing is here.

I enjoyed this a lot, but it should be known that I'm partial to dark, somewhat cynical views of the future and the human race, so this book makes me delightfully happy. I definitely plan on attacking Watts's backlist, and I'm very glad I finally gave this author a shot. However, I'm also glad I waited until I was ready. As I mentioned before, if I'd read him when the book first came out, I think I would've had more trouble than necessary. But still, for anyone truly interested in this, I'd say, give it a go. Sure, it's a first contact story, but it's also much more than that.

Review style: Two sections, what I liked and what I didn't. Expect spoilers in both, simply because it's difficult for me to talk about this book without talking specifics. However, bear in mind that this is the kind of book that knowing the spoilers really shouldn't affect how you read it, in fact, it may help. Yet, if spoilers bother the snot out of you, just skip the jump to my LJ.

As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Peter Watts's BLINDSIGHT

Happy Reading!

Reading 101 books in 1001 days

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:40:30 GMT

Hi,

I've just caught up with the comments you lovely folks made on this post. It's been a very hectic weekend that involved a trip to Bletchley Park (where the British intelligence forces cracked the Engima code) for my 101 goals in 1001 days challenge. When I got back, after a long car journey home, I had a little surf looking for other book related 101 goals and I found this blog. I don't know the blogger but she's reading 101 books in 1001 days and it's her second time of doing this. I thought it was a challenge and a reading list you might be interested in reading and commenting on.

Hugs and Battenburg Cake,

Ms Alex

Review: Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:39:32 GMT

Just posted a review of Embrace the Night by Karen Chance.

The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:57:55 GMT

The Adamantine Palace tells of a world where dragons were the means to and the commodity of power. The Dragon Kings and Queens ruled with an iron fist while they bicker and plot with and against each other (oftentimes both at the same time). Though the first scene started with a bang, I found the beginning part of the book slow though once I reached a quarter of the way, it began to speed up and I was quite hooked. I can liken it to a dragon trying to fly - it will try to get a running start to get the right amount of power to get off the ground but once it's airborne, ahhh, it'll be flying to its heart's content.

The court intrigue and machinations of the Kings and Queens centered on who's going to be the next Speaker, the leader of them all and this is the meat of the story. Which is kind of expected, looking at the title. The Adamantine Palace is where the Speaker reside, and it's the crown jewel of all jewels in the realm. Any ambitious man or woman will do whatever it takes - plot, kill, lie, make pacts, break them, sell their kids or even sell their own souls to the devil to possess it. Prince Jehal, Queen Zafir and Queen Shezira were in the center of all this political maneuverings. And only the most vicious and the most cunning will win this particular game.

Amidst the court squabblings and power struggle, Snow, the only pure white dragon in the realms, went missing. And in a hindsight, this event was more important than anything that was happening at court. Because this preludes a discovery that will change everything, that will turn the world upside down. Dragons had been tamed by Man and were currently being used as glorified pets, transport and commodity. But the truth of the matter was, a long, long time ago they were the masters, not humans. They were on top of the food chain. But the blood mages learned a potion on how to tame them. These became the alchemists who regularly add the potion to the water the dragons drink. And what would a rogue dragon do once the veil fell of her eyes? Of course, go on a campaign to free other dragons, punish those who subdued them and take back their world. Blood and fire were their nature afterall. Yep, top of the food chain all right.

The Adamantine Palace is a good debut and a good first book to start of an interesting trilogy. The world building is good and the story engaging with mysteries and glimpses to what will be in the next books. Though I admit that I didnt like any of the characters, except for Snow. The squabbling Kings and Queens were the same old stereotypes that littered the fantasy world. Prince Jehal had his moments but then again, he fits the cookie-cutter mold of the cold, petty albeit sly and ambitious antagonist. So I wont be able to include him in my list of cool villains (yes, I love cool villians like I love bad-ass heroes). I dont know if there's a particular hero in the book but the nearest I can think of was Kemir (well, he's the next one I like after Snow). His and Nadira's situation presented an intriguing conundurum though. Will they help Snow in getting rid of the alchemists and in turn, hand over the world back to the dragons and turn their backs on mankind? Or will they do everything to thwart Snow's plans? I am really interested in how the author will be resolving this at the end. I will be disappointed if it'll end up with the 2 races having a truce and living peacefully side by side. I hope it'll be more --- lively (original and different came to mind too) than that.

Questions books and movies

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:07:19 GMT

I was wondering, if no one minds the question here, about feelings on reading the book before seeing the movie. I confess that reading the book before seeing the movie was something I started, shall I say religiously, doing only 10-15 years ago, and then I went back and read the books of some movies that I had seen.

What brings this to mind is the new Harry Potter movie. I enjoyed it, but from the way the person next to me was acting I wanted to say, "Haven't you read the book?"

So read the book before the movie? Thoughts, opinions, etc. My vote is to read the book before the movie.

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:49:30 GMT

Went on a weeklong vacation today at a beach house that had spotty internet access. Marathon reading time!

Before I list the books I read and my opinions, I've got a question. I like reading historical fiction novels (probably my favorite genre nowadays), and especially love reading ones set in time periods I know little about. Can anyone recommend any good novels that take place in Feudal Russia? Every piece of Russian historical fiction I could come across dealt with World War II or the Communist Revolution. I was looking for something taking place in or around the time of Ivan the Terrible, or even before.

Anyway...on with the books...

The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicles Book One
Patrick Rothfuss
Took me a bit to get into this one, to be honest. Snagged it from the library due to a lack of anything really interesting the time I was there. Seemed like a generic fantasy, and to be honest...it kinda is. What sets this one apart is the richness of the characters. I've always had a soft-spot for stories told from a first-person perspective, and the narrator of this tale "Kvothe" is as absolutely charming and entertaining as they come. The book is the first of a series, and the overarching plot of the series is barely touched upon. Rather, it focuses on the formative years of Kvothe and the experiences that turned him into the titular Kingkiller. Charming, warm, and well-written. HIGHLY recommended.

The Accidental Time-Machine
Jason Haldeman
200-pages of fluff, but entertaining fluff. A minor physicist at MIT discovers a mundane piece of equipment is actually a time-machine, and it sends him on a trip through the future of Earth. He visits a totalitarian, theocratic state, a future where EVERYTHING is auctioned, and even further. If it was more than the 200-odd pages that the final copy ended up being, it would have more than worn out its welcome. It didn't, and ends up being a very entertaining little book.

Shogun
James Clavell
A delicious piece of historical fiction. Set in Japan near the end of the centuries-long civil war, it tells the tale of John Blackthorne, an English naval pilot who ends up stranded in that country. It features a vivid and well-rounded cast of characters, is brimming with intrigue, complexity, war, questions of loyalty and duty and a very touching romance story. Perhaps my favorite part of the novel were the many scenes in which Eastern and Western cultures clashed. It has all the complexity of a modern day thriller with the richness of its historical backdrop.

Gai-jin
James Clavell
The last book written before Clavell's unfortunate death, and it shows. The initial several hundred pages of the book are typical Clavell: complex, intriguing, and very entertaining. Around midpoint, however, the plot starts to become muddled and lose cohesion. It began to meander around the point, with the last few pages dedicated to an infodump summarizing the major plot point, but leaving the minor ones untouched. Still an entertaining read, but definitely not one of Clavell's best.

The Kingmaker
Brian Haig
Sean Drummond, a JAG Major, is brought in to defend a man considered to be the biggest, most heinous traitor in American history. As he investigates, he becomes embroiled in a massive worldwide conspiracy. Nothing special to write home about here, to be frank. It's the same basic plot you've probably seen before in other legal thrillers.

Child 44
Tom Rob Smith
A murder mystery with an intriguing setting: Leo Demidov is a member of the State Security apparatus in Stalinist Russia. Over the course of several events, his patriotic ferver for the Soviet Union decays as he finds himself investigating a series of vicious and brutal murders made difficult by a society in which the doctrine is "There is no crime". Unfortunately, those events drag on for nearly half the book, relegating the actual murder mystery to an almost subplot status. The book goes to great lengths to describe the horrors, the paranoia, and state of fear that existed in the Soviet Union at the time. Much is made of how evil and horrible the government is, but unfortunately anyone interested in the book is probably WELL aware of it all already. Little description is given to the actual INVESTIGATION of the murders, which I think would've ended up being a much more interesting story. The world already knows how terrible Stalin's Soviet Union was, so it might have been more entertaining to read about someone trying to conduct a valid investigation faced with that society.

Frank McCourt Passes Away

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:39:52 GMT

The author of Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, and Teacher Man has passed away.

BBC News Article

Frank McCourt, author of best-seller Angela's Ashes, has died of cancer in a New York hospice.

The 78-year-old Irish-American writer was suffering from meningitis and had recently been treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Angela's Ashes, a memoir of McCourt's childhood in Ireland, sold millions of copies and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Two Reviews

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:03:26 GMT

Title: Newes from the Dead
Author: Mary Hooper
Year of Publication: 2008
Genre: YA, historical
Pages: 259
First Line: "It is very dark when I wake."

Summary: Anne Green can't move a muscle, can't open her eyes, can't scream. She lies paralyzed in absolute darkness, terrified by her final memory--being hanged. Is she in purgatory? Hell? Was she buried alive? An innocent woman caught up in a nightmare, Anne Green is trapped with her racing thoughts, her burning need to revisit the events--and the man--that led her to the scaffold.

Meanwhile, a shy young medical student attends his first dissection and notices something strange as the doctors prepare their tools...Did her eyelids just flutter? Could this corpse be alive?

(Source: Back of book)

Review: This book wasn't quite what I expected and the writing style wasn't very good, but it was an interesting story. This is a true tale about a girl who was believed to be dead but found to be alive on a dissection table. The end of the book offers the real "Newes from the Dead" report which was written after this event. It seems the majority of the book was taken from research as there is also a bibliography at the end. The characters weren't great and two in particular (Susan and her aunt) confused me, but overall, characters were tolerable. I'd recommend this to people interested in historical/medical phenomenon books or those interested in little quirks of history that are not necessarily well-known.

Worst part: I would have liked to see more of Anne's thoughts about being in the state she was. She offered lots on her life before, but there were only a few paragraphs here and there about what she was actually feeling while she was paralyzed.

Best part: The best character in the book was definitely Geoffrey Reade. He was quite well written (though his personality suggested he was older than seventeen.)

Grade: C+

Other Books by This Author: By Royal Command, At the House of the Magician, Petals in the Ashes several others.

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Year of Publication: 2005
Genre: YA, fantasy
Pages: 652
First Line: "It was nearly midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind."

Summary: The war against Voldemort is not going well: even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet...

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year studnets learn to Apparate--and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry recieves some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.

So it's the home frontt hat takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort--and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

(Source: Back of book)

Review: This is the fourth time I've read this book. (I have read HPatSS once, HPatCoS twice, PoA three times, Gof four times, OotP five times, HBP four and DH once.) While I didn't like it the first time I read it, it is growing on me more each time I read it. It's still not my favorite, and there are things I wish the book did and didn't have, but it's HARRY POTTER. It's sort of difficult to say anything bad about it, because it's just so epic. The book is humorous at times, sad enough to make you cry at others. If you haven't already read the series, you really need to.

Worst part: I've never been a fan of the chapter titled "The Cave". I think it could have been done better. I also feel there are some things that were left unanswered, even by DH. I plan on rereading all seven and listing the questions--I may post them here.

Best part: So many new relationships! Ron is hilarious as ever with girls, Remus is a sweetheart and Harry is clueless. Oh, the love!

Grade: B+

Other Books by This Author: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows several others.

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:14:05 GMT

"City of Wizards is normally quite a GOOD thing, since only Good WIZARDS seem able to live together. . . .There have been cities of EVIL Wizards in the past. You will occasionally come across the sites of these, reduced to a glassy slag during the ultimate disagreement."

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones.

Any reader of epic fantasy or sword and sorcery will find it hilarious. Any would-be writer of epic fantasy or sword and sorcery should probably regard it as required reading. Indeed, in an online discussion, one writer told how she had heard of it, gone to Amazon and read a review that mentioned "STEW and other food cliches." Whereupon she placed her order and went back to her manuscript to edit it even before she got her copy. . . .

Hits lots of other topics. Like Magic and Swords. Enchantress. Children. The Barbarian Horde. Mines. Minstrels. And all sorts of delights.

She goes a bit overboard in places. Yes, if you go traveling in Fantasyland, you will eat a lot of Stew. It can be easily made in large batches and kept ready to serve whenever the wayfarers happen to stick their noses in the inn. And how much of the Ecology and Economics would be transparent to a traveler who does, after all, have the Dark Lord to think about.

But those are quibbles. Even where she goes overboard, many fantasy writers go overboard on the other side of the ship, so it may be useful as a corrective, even there.

Librarians Gone Wild!

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:12:59 GMT

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106561675

Who says book people aren't wild, crazy and sexy?

Review #1: A Game of Thrones

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:38:57 GMT

Book: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Pages: 674 (Trade Paperback)
Genre: Fantasy

Summary (from Goodreads):
Readers of epic fantasy series are: (1) patient--they are left in suspense between each volume, (2) persistent--they reread or at least review the previous book(s) when a new installment comes out, (3) strong--these 700-page doorstoppers are heavy, and (4) mentally agile--they follow a host of characters through a myriad of subplots. In A Game of Thrones, the first book of a projected six, George R.R. Martin rewards readers with a vividly real world, well-drawn characters, complex but coherent plotting, and beautifully constructed prose, which Locus called "well above the norms of the genre."

Martin's Seven Kingdoms resemble England during the Wars of the Roses, with the Stark and Lannister families standing in for the Yorks and Lancasters. The story of these two families and their struggle to control the Iron Throne dominates the foreground; in the background is a huge, ancient wall marking the northern border, beyond which barbarians, ice vampires, and direwolves menace the south as years-long winter advances. Abroad, a dragon princess lives among horse nomads and dreams of fiery reconquest.

There is much bloodshed, cruelty, and death, but A Game of Thrones is nevertheless compelling; it garnered a Nebula nomination and won the 1996 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. So, on to A Clash of Kings! --Nona Vero

Review: This was...long. It didn't really follow the traditional fantasy storytelling style--it was more like a million scenes from different perspectives heaped together from which the reader had to deduce something that resembled a plotline. But don't get me wrong; for all of its seven hundred pages, it was intriguing, entertaining, and realistic. I suppose my favorite part would be the characters, because the plot didn't amount to too much. In fact, however crazy this may seem, this book was more an intro to the rest of the series than anything else...and intro of epic proportions, you could say. But overall, good. I wish I could give it three-and-a-half stars, but I'll stick to whole stars.
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Book reviews :)

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:42:23 GMT

The fake-cuts lead to the reviews and details :)

Revelation by C.J.Sansom
Enterprise: The First Adventure by Vonda McIntyre
Star Trek: Strangers form the Sky by Margret Wander Bonanno
Star Trek XI by Alan Dean Foster
Firestarter by Stephen King
Star Trek: The Final Frontier by Diane Carey
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Superstition by David Ambrose

Cross-posted like crazy, i.e. to 50bookchallenge, bookshare, bookss & bookish.

Wyrms by Orson Scott Card

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:51:05 GMT

Good Omens made me decide to pick up Wyrms. Good Omens raised some theological questions IMO, well if you’re willing to read beyond the humor much the same way Heinlein’s Starship Troopers raises interesting political questions if you read it as more than military science fiction.

Wyrms is a book about faith, and whether humans determine their fate, and how humans interpret God’s will. It is a science fiction novel, but the science in question is what most people I know call “soft” science. Biology, genetics, questions revolving racial memory and psi-talents.

Patience is the rightful heir to the human kingdom on Imakulata. For 15 years she has been trained to be a diplomat and an assassin. In her 13th year she discovers that she is the prophesied mother of the Kristos, essentially the second coming.

Upon her father’s death Patience begins the long journey to Cranning to deal with the prophecy, and in reality she has no choice.

Throughout the novel Cards raises questions about prophecies, second comings, and arguably religious fanaticism. Unlike his non-fiction political writing Card doesn’t burden the reader with his dogma. While reading, and upon completion, of the book the reader is left with questions about God, and how humans relate to their religion.

Review: Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:53:14 GMT

Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow
Genre: Fiction
Page Count: 224 for the hardcover version according to Amazon, however I have a paperback copy with 208 pages.
Publishing Date: September 1, 2009

Summary: (from amazon.com)
From Ragtime and Billy Bathgate to The Book of Daniel, World’s Fair, and The March, the novels of E. L. Doctorow comprise one of the most substantive achievements of modern American fiction. Now, with Homer & Langley, this master novelist has once again created an unforgettable work.

Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers–the one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the Great War. They live as recluses in their once grand Fifth Avenue mansion, scavenging the city streets for things they think they can use, hoarding the daily newspapers as research for Langley’s proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers–wars, political movements, technological advances–and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians . . . and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.

Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer.

Review:
I was lucky enough to recieve an advance copy of this book from the First Reads program at goodreads.com. I had never read anything by E.L. Doctorow before, nor had I heard of the Collyer brothers (yes, they were real people) so I went into this with a pretty open mind. It's a short novel, but it's packed with quirky characters, rich details and interesting musings about life and love. I couldn't help but be reminded of Forrest Gump from the way American history played out in the lives of the two brothers and Grey Gardens for the way they were recluses inside their home. It'll make you think, and I don't think that there is a character in this book that someone won't relate to. I was captivated by it and had a hard time tearing myself away. Overall, I would give it a 4/5.

x-posted to bookish, tunnels_of_loce and goodreads.com

Best social networking book site (Librarything, Goodreads, LivingSocial)

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:13:42 GMT

As of right now - what do you think the best website for organizing your book collection is? It seems the big players are Librarything, Goodreads, and LivingSocial (which has a section for books).

For the longest time I used librarything mainly because of their early reviewer program, but I have a few friends who swear by Goodreads. And then I also have a few friends who use the LivingSocial app via facebook. It's so confusing.

I consume my books in a variety of ways. I read them as a good-old paperback. I read them digitally via my ebook reader. I also listen to them via audiobook. And sometimes, it's a combination of all three!

I was wondering what site people use. I also have an iPhone, so if a site has integration with that, that's also helpful. I noticed LivingSocial has an app, but I couldn't seem to find one for LT or GR.

This may have been asked before, but when I did some google searching, a lot of the results that came up were outdated. That's why I'm asking "as of right now".

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:19:24 GMT

Book #25
The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
YA fiction; fantasy; series
377 pages

At the outset of this fast-paced tale by Rick Riordan, it would seem that Percy Jackson is just another New York kid diagnosed with ADHD, who has good intentions, a nasty stepfather, and a long line of schools that have rejected him. The revelation of his status as half-blood offspring of one of the Greek gods is nicely packaged, and it's easy to believe that Mount Olympus, in modern times, has migrated to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building (the center of Western civilization) while the door to Hades can be found at DOA Recording Studio, somewhere in LA. With his new friends, a disguised satyr, and the half-blood daughter of Athena, Percy sets out across the country to rectify a feud between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Along the way they must cope with the Furies, Medusa, motorcycle thug Aires, and various other immortals. Although some of Jesse Bernstein's accents fail (the monster from Georgia, for instance, has no Southern trace in her voice), he does a fine job of keeping the main characters' tones and accents distinguishable. He convincingly portrays Percy, voicing just the right amount of prepubescent confusion, ironic wit, and the ebbing and waning of concern for himself and those around him. Mythology fans will love this take and kids who haven't been inculcated with the Classical canon will learn aspects of it here while having no trouble following a rollicking good–and modern–adventure.

I thought that this was a great book! Greek mythology has always fascinated me and I love to read those kinds of stories and books. This book made me realize that I do not know a lot about mythology, but I'd love to read more books about it. The characters were all intriguing and I cannot wait to learn more them and the many other adventures that they have in this series. I also cannot wait to see the movie.

Books read this year: 25/50.
Pages read this year: 9402/15000

A Random Selection of Book News & Links

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:56:59 GMT

Redacted. Pulchritude. Chillax. Appalled. These are just a few of the words that ~~England's~~ Britain's poets hate.

Here's a pie chart that's sure to make all the booksellers sick: A dollar-by-dollar breakdown of the average American's spending habits. Of all the expenditures listed, guess where books rate? If you guessed dead-f**king-last, you're not only a foul-mouthed pessimist, you're absolutely right!

A recent poll of middle aged women found that, "more than anything else,"they want to read about sex. In related news, I've just begun shopping around my newest novel, Menopausal Menage à Trois. Interested publishers can contact me via the cougars' den of choice, Facebook.

It's bad new in the world of books. According to a recent survey by Publishers Weekly, 70% of the industry folk polled reported hiring freezes at their companies, 63% reported layoffs, 11% said they feel "very insecure" about their job safety, and over 60% said that their companies have cut marketing, travel and entertainment budgets. And that's not all. In another PW piece, they're reporting that bookstore sales fell 3% in May. This, after a 3.2% drop in April. Gulp.

Mega-ginormous props to Vromans Bookstore blog for steering me towardsthis ridiculously self-righteous, pro-book banning website. Among the site's many flaws: Consistently poor spelling, unintentionally atrocious grammar, and Barnes & Noble's corporate sponsorship. Yes, you read that right. One of the United States' (a.k.a. the home of free speech & freedom of the press) largest booksellers is sponsoring a website which proudly proclaims, "Celebrate Banned Books 2008 by helping us censor immoral and indecent books. Lets [sic] keep bad books out of our schools, libraries, and Bookstores [sic] - WWJD. [sic]"

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:35:08 GMT

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

GoodReads Summary: "If you think you wouldn't raise your skirts for a rakish legend about the purifying powers of a unicorn's horn, then maybe you aren't a 15th-century serving girl under the sway of a velvet-tongued court painter of ill repute. In keeping with her bestselling Girl with a Pearl Earring, and its Edwardian-era follow-up, Falling Angels, Tracy Chevalier's tale of artistic creation and late-medieval amours, The Lady and the Unicorn is a subtle study in social power, and the conflicts between love and duty. Nicolas des Innocents has been commissioned by the Parisian nobleman Jean Le Viste to design a series of large tapestries for his great hall (in real life, the famous Lady and the Unicorn cycle, now in Paris's Musee National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny). While Nicolas is measuring the walls, he meets a beautiful girl who turns out to be Jean Le Viste's daughter. Their passion is impossible for their world--so forbidden, given their class differences, that its only avenue of expression turns out to be those magnificent tapestries. The historical evidence on which this story is based is slight enough to allow the full play of Chevalier's imagination in this cleverly woven tale."

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first book by Chevalier. I enjoyed the story, but found the writing stilted. Each chapter started with short, clipped sentences, like Chevalier hadn't hit her stride, yet. Sometimes, it would work itself out, other times, not so much. Each character's voice, also, sounded the same as the next, but maybe that's just the author's style.

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Ideals and Languages

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:12:26 GMT

Hello!

First I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful recommendations (since I never properly thanked all of you who helped me find Japanese Literature and various other requests).

I have started reading "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London and I'm shocked by the ideals held by Captain Wolf Larsen. Has anyone else read the book? If so, what would you suggest I read to better understand the ideals upheld by Humphrey Van Weyden and his captain?

On a completely other note, I realized I need to take a foreign language for my major, but I'm not sure which to take. Between French and German which will be most beneficial to studying Literature and the Humanities?

Thank you. =]

Hopefully this is allowed...

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:38:43 GMT

Yet another book-to-movie loose adaptation. What do you think?

I think that the director should be shot. Not to judge before the movie comes out or anything.

Practical magic By Alice Hoffman

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:32:14 GMT

Title: Practical Magic
By Alica Hoffman
Pages: 244
Rating: D
Summary This book is about two sister- Sally and Gillian- who were orhaned as children, then rasied by their two witchy Aunts.

My Raiting: I didn't find this book that enjoyable, half of the blame was the movie( l love the movie) the other half I just really didn't like the book. They were three or four places in the book where I felt it could have ended and it would have been prefectly fine with me, also the character bugged me. Gillian and Kylie were the only ones that I vaguely liked, Sally was to struck up and Antonia was cruel( threw out most of the book.

Book Giveaway!

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:34:20 GMT

I'm giving away a copy of John Connolly's "The Book of Lost Things" on my LJ.

Come on over.

Looking for... an art fiction

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:01:18 GMT

Hello:
Recently I feel atracted for all the art topic, but just art works missed or stoled and police ( o don´t know how you said that, art police??) who investigate this.

Thanks in advances for any recommendation. if they are about historical fiction, the better.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:16:53 GMT

Original Year of Publication: 2009
Hardback Page Count: 314
Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: Covering twenty years, from 1937 to 1957, Shanghai Girls chronicles the story of sisters Pearl and May Chin, sold to Chinese-American men in marriage when their father loses all the family's money. Used to fun parties and in love with the artist whose advertisements she poses for, older sister Pearl does not expect her or May's lives to change after they marry strangers. They'll stay in China while their husbands go back to America, continuing to be "beautiful girls"--models. But when their city is invaded by the Japanese and their family attacked by gangsters, Pearl and May must leave China, bringing with them a terrible secret which they keep hidden from their new family. Traumatized by what happened to her in China, Pearl now must take care of her sister and get to know a man she doesn't want, while facing the hardships of a Chinese immigrant in 1930s' America.

I'll post my usual disclaimer that I am not an expert in this time period, nor do I know much about early immigration. In fact, this book really isn't something I would normally pick up--but I've heard good things about See's other book, Peony in Love, so I checked Shanghai Girls out on a whim.

I've always been a fan of the sister dynamic in historical fiction, when used well. Luckily, See plays Pearl and May's many differences off each other well without lapsing into the common cliches: the overdone sibling rivalry, the jealous sister, so on and so forth. There is envy there--Pearl sees May as the spoiled one, while she is less beautiful and less charming--but it it goes both ways, thankfully.

If you're looking for a book about early immigration and China on the precipice of World War II, I would advise you to check this book out; I felt like I learned a lot, and I've heard that Lisa See's pretty knowledgable. The thing is, this book has a brutally honest feeling. But at the same time, the author handles what happens to Pearl and May very well. She doesn't shy away from the darkness of the tragedies the girls share, while at the same time not delving into grotesque detail. I've often read books where scenes like--well, Pearl's rape scene--are shown in such clinical detail that the emotion is really lost. Not so with Shanghai Girls. I truly felt affected by that scene in particular.

I liked how Sam and Pearl's relationship was written as well. It wasn't a huge part of the book, and it remained for the most part very secretive. But that felt like what it should have been. Similarly, Pearl's relationship with her daughter was not overdone, though I found Joy to be one of the most annoying characters in the history of ever. "I'm going to be a Communist! I'm going back to China, which is governed by Mao! I'm going to be an idiotic <em>moron</em>!" She bugged the heck out of me, though it wasn't neccessarily by her fault that she did.
Now, as to the whole adoption-of-Joy by Pearl subplot... I thought that See could have gotten into it a bit more. It was very subtle, and frankly, I thought that there should have been more obvious tension between the sisters. I mean, one took the other's kid to raise it as her own--even though it was needed at the time, you would think that May would have more problems with that. But then, May annoyed me throughout the book. I think that my problem with this novel was that I couldn't understand how May was the hero and Pearl a whiner at the end of it all. I don't think that May was by any means less brave than Pearl--she did make sacrifices--but Pearl did what she had to do, and she was more practical than May was, a dreamer. (And I can't blame her for being possessive of Joy and worried about May's involvement with her. I would probably do the same thing.)

The book's main flaw is that it's one of those good stories that is far too depressing. It seemed like there was no joy in the sisters' lives. As realistic as the plot may have been, the complete lack of light got to me.

Four out of Five Stars: I think that I will read more Lisa See books, but as good as this one was, I couldn't be crazy about it. The plot is very sad, as well-crafted as it may be, and the fact is that, at the end, everyone attacks the main character and you don't know why. I couldn't bond with May or understand her reasoning, and I couldn't give Joy a break for falling into Communism with innocent intentions. I was too busy feeling bad for Sam and Pearl. It's an interesting read, one that keeps you waiting to see what happens next--but don't read it if you want to feel good. But it teaches a lot, and it's a defnite recommendation for historical fiction fans and readers interested in China. I would say, however, that it's best to read this if you're looking for some brutally honest portrayals of real life.

Similar Books: Memoirs of a Geisha, Bound. (Bound is more YA, but it focuses on an older China, retold in a Cinderella story fashion.)
Also by this Author: Peony in Love, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
Up Next: The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon.

The Rat Killer by Alexander Terekhov

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:40:26 GMT

When embarking on this book review I am aware that my total inexperience in such tasks could indeed hinder its quality; you should be too. So I guess I require a caveat involving pinches of salt and such. I'm sure I'll improve with time! :) [I welcome any feedback on this review wholeheartedly, as it's become a little hobby of mine to do keep me sane throughout my PhD]

Publisher: Alma Books Ltd
Year of publication: 2008
Paperback page count: 352

My Summary:
Alexander Terekhov's "The Rat Killer" tells of a tale of two exterminators enlisted to deinfest the banquet hall of a hotel stricken with the peculiar issue of rats raining from above. As the political intrigue of the post-communist reality develops into nightmare the greed, cunning and malice of the humans depicted begin to develop to resemble the behaviour of the large communities of destructive rodents. All the while it is revealed that the rats acquire somewhat human qualities. Terekhov introduces descriptions and explanations of the complex social organisation of rat society, with its dominant and subordinate males, and of the means used to fight rats, up to and including other rats specially trained to kill and disrupt communities. It is clear what the writer's intentions are here and the parallel drawn gains momentum throughout before ringing loud and clear at the story's close.

(Some of) My Discourse:
Terekhov's depiction of the novel's Russian backdrop doesn't entirely engender wishes to visit the "quaint" town of Svetloyar as I come to the conclusion of the work. Despite this, I must say I enjoyed the book; in particular the elaborate factual content pertaining to rat ecology, behaviour and death. There was something fascinating about the various encounters and stories told by the experienced duo, perhaps even a perverted fascination some would say. Each time I put the book down I found myself wishing to complement its words with the visual viscerity of Glen Morgan's 2003 movie "Willard". For me, in those instances the narrator and his mentor took on the strange aloof nature of Crispin Glover's incarnation of Willard. At the risk of sounding controversial, by social standards it seems natural for quiet, subservient and slightly creepy folk to be associated with such a job role so when it comes to our attention that the narrator has an eye for the ladies I was shocked and thrilled in many ways. As an author he teases his reader. Perfect testament to this is the fact that he chooses never to indugle us fully in the main character's luck with women, a luck we realise is ever present but never at the forefront of any narrative. Just as his activities are sneaky, so too are the accounts of them; seeming to have hardly occurred at all. Nevertheless, this is a book of many twists, which Terekhov takes a little too far at times, at least in my opinion. I say this because I was often left asking "where did that come from?"; which is all well and good; but this was often followed by "but what happened to that part of the story?". In all the loose ends rattled me a little as they accumulated throughout.

Knowing little about the Russian literary scene I cannot comment on amazon.com's decree that this is a "novel of a very Russian tradition", but I must say I finish this book feeling culturally enlightened and glad to hear a fresh literary voice. Terekhov's writing is witty and nicely sarcastic, "packed with forceful imagery and the slang of modern Russia" as well described by another reviewer. I particularly enjoyed the "countdown to D-day" introduced from the beginning, tying all the chapters together and serving to set some sort of target for the story. I also greatly appreciate the art of having chapter titles, so this was a detail not lost on me. In saying this, I must point out that at times the narrative style was nothing but perplexing and found myself feeling completely bogged down in too much "boring" detail. I usually enjoy reading about all the detail the author deems fit to include as long as the narrative style pushes it forward and continually keeps my interest. Here I found myself often hurrying to get through these parts of each chapter and sadly I soon realised that there would be these areas at least once in each.

My Final Verdict:
My motivations in choosing to read this book were to open my horizons. I wanted to read and write about a book I would generally never have taken the time to read. So if those feelings resonate with you I'd highly recommend it. Also if you take pleasure in reading sarcastic works with historical and political content written in a fresh way once again I'd say "try it". Conversely, if you'd like a nice light read that flows well and seems to have some sort of in your face point (other than to comment on human/animal behaviour), I'd suggest you try elsewhere.