| 01/25/09 Homepage Spotlight |
[17 . 12 . 09] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.
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| 46: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis |
[17 . 12 . 09] |
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Book Forty-Six
Title: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Author: Connie Willis
Page Count: 493
Genre: Ostensibly sci-fi
Synopsis/Thoughts: Oh my goodness. Where has this book been all my life? I loved, loved, loved it! It's got everything...time travel, romance, wit, characters bumbling around making fools of themselves as they try to prevent the breakdown of the space-time continuum. I don't fling around the five-star ratings lightly, but this book deserves every one!
Ned Henry is a time traveler from 2057. His task is to find out if an atrocious piece of Victorian art, a figural urn known as "the bishop's bird stump", was inside Coventry cathedral when it was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. If he doesn't, his employer, the draconian Lady Schrapnell, will have a fit. She is trying to rebuild Coventry cathedral as an homage to her great-great-great-great grandmother, and every detail has to be perfect. Problem is, he's made so many trips back in time, he's now suffering from a malady known as time-lag (symptoms of which include excessive sentimentality and Difficulty Distinguishing Sounds). Knowing he'll never be able to get any rest with Lady Schrapnell on his case, he escapes to Victorian England, hoping to get some much needed R&R. Because nowhere could be more restful than Victorian England, right? Little does he know that fellow time traveler and part-time nymph (or is it naiad?) Verity Kindle has caused an historical incongruity that could have disastrous consequences. Now it's up to Ned and Verity to babysit Lady Schrapnell's great-great-great-great grandmother, Tossie, in 1888 to prevent the entire world's history being altered. Oh, and Ned still has to find the bishop's bird stump before the christening of the new Coventry cathedral! What follows is a comedy of errors that would make Bertie Wooster proud.
I really cannot recommend this book highly enough. I was chuckling out loud almost the entire way through, but for all its silliness and seeming randomness, everything comes together seamlessly at the end. I think this one is definitely going to end up in my top five all-time favorites
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| Book 40 |
[17 . 12 . 09] |
Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Themes/Topics: Scientific Advancement, Cloning, Organ Donation, Soul
WOW. I mean, just wow. This book was fantastic. Chilling, sad, and thoughtful are the best words that come to mind. A world where clones exist merely as organ donors certainly gives you cause to pause and think. I found this book to be flat, in a way, but it fit. The characters don't have much personality, but they aren't really supposed to, and it totally works.
I love this book and will highly recommend it to all the readers I know.
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| # 84 A Christmas Promise |
[17 . 12 . 09] |
A Christmas Promise
Anne Perry
13-yr-old Gracie Phipps is going about her usual chores on London's more questionable
streets when she is appealed to by an 8-yr-old urchin, Minnie Maude Mudway, who needs
help finding her friend, Charlie, who is lost, and who happens to be a donkey.
Charlie disappeared after the sudden death of Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf, a rag-and-bone
man who might have picked up a treasure that was never intended for him, and which may have cost him his life.
As Gracie and Minnie Maude search for clues to Charlie's disappearance, they are aided by a kind, mysterious man, Mr. Balthasar, and they learn more about London's dark secrets than even they, with their streetwise ways, had known.
I definitely enjoyed A Christmas Promise, but not quite so much as the last two Anne Perry Christmas books I've read. Perhaps I'm now saturated with them, but I have to say that even though I love happy endings and charming books the ending of A Christmas Promise was just a bit too precious, even for me.
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[16 . 12 . 09] |
It irritates me to no end that the local Borders and Barnes & Noble doesn't carry Mike Resnick's books; I'm sure that they have their reasons, but if they're going to service their customer, then they should be ordering this. It just shows the stupidity of having some regional district manager ordering, instead of someone at the store, who speaks to people everyday about what they like, and why.
Anyway, that rant out of the way, I finished reading Mike Resnick's new novel, Starship: Flagship, set in his Birthright universe. It held together nicely, and was a quick, fun read, as were the several prior books in this particular series. Very readable.
Odd thing: Amazon says that the book is supposed to be released on 12/22. I used a gift card I'd gotten to order from them, and the book showed up in just a couple of days. Mistake? Well, I enjoyed it, in any case.
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| #44 - Unaccustomed Earth |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
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#44 - Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008, 333 pages)
Jhumpa Lahiri deserves every bit of recognition she has been given since her first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, received the Pulitzer Prize. Her second book, Unaccustomed Earth, was named one of the 10 best books of 2008 by the New York Times Book Review, and that award is completely justified.
Just as her first book presented short stories about people from India adjusting to life and others in a foreign place, her second book featured eight more tales in the same vein. The stories seem simple at the outset, but Lahiri's beautiful prose highlights the importance of what so many people take for granted, the reason why I adore Lahiri's books. The stories in this book are beautiful, but it is the final three stories, all of which are related, that captured and then broke my heart. Those three stories, simply put, are breathtaking.
I strongly encourage anyone to read Lahiri's stories. They are smart, beautiful, haunting, and so amazingly well-written. That is why I give this book, a very strong five out of five stories.
Total Books Read: 44 / 50 (88 percent)
Total Pages Read: 12,643 / 15,000 (84 percent)
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| 45: Death In Kashmir by M. M. Kaye |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
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Book Forty-Five
Title: Death In Kashmir
Author: M. M. Kaye
Page Count: 256
Genre: Mystery
Synopsis/Thoughts: Note: I stole the synopsis from Goodreads, because I'm too lazy to do one of my own right now. When young Sarah Parrish takes a skiing vacation to Gulmarg, a resort nestled in the mountains above the fabled Vale of Kashmir, she anticipates an entertaining but uneventful stay. But when she discovers that the deaths of two in her party are the reuslt of foul play, she finds herself entrusted with a mission of unforseen importance. And when she leaves the ski slopes for the Waterwitch, a private houseboat on the placid shores of the Dal Lake near Srinagar, she discovers to her horror that the killer will stop at nothing to prevent Sarah from piecing the puzzle together.
I really liked this mystery set in India at the end of British Raj. In addition to being a suspenseful murder mystery with an ending I didn't predict, it is an all-around well written book. The author spent much of her life in India, and it shows in the vivid descriptions of the scenery, which I found to be captivating. They made me wish I could see the places I was reading about! The characters are well-drawn, and there is a touch of romance as well, though not so much as to be overbearing. All in all this was a very enjoyable read and I plan on picking up the others in the series.
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| [Book 05] Hunter x Hunter volume 4 by Yoshihiro Togashi |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
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Title: Hunter x Hunter volume 4
Mangaka: Yoshihiro Togashi
Genre: Shounen
Book details: Manga, 192 pages
Rating: 5/5
Baka-Updates Manga Summary: Hunters are a special breed, dedicated to tracking down treasures, magical beasts, and even other men. But such pursuits require a license, and less than one in a hundred thousand can pass the grueling qualification exam. Those who do pass gain access to restricted areas, amazing stores of information, and the right to call themselves Hunters.
My Review:
Unofficial title: 'Volume Collection of Hisoka's Creepiest Faces Evar'.
I loved Gon in this volume - all his practice comes to a conclusion! I loved the Hisoka & Gon interaction. I really love the friendships developed in HxH. They can be sweet, supportive, comforting, even protective.
Gon's stubbornness really comes out in this volume (and the last one) and shows you that Gon's not just a "pretty face" so to say.
( Spoilers )
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| [Book 04] Hunter x Hunter volume 3 by Yoshihiro Togashi |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
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Title: Hunter x Hunter volume 3
Mangaka: Yoshihiro Togashi
Genre: Shounen
Book details: Manga, 192 pages
Rating: 5/5
Baka-Updates Manga Summary: Hunters are a special breed, dedicated to tracking down treasures, magical beasts, and even other men. But such pursuits require a license, and less than one in a hundred thousand can pass the grueling qualification exam. Those who do pass gain access to restricted areas, amazing stores of information, and the right to call themselves Hunters.
My Review:
We get to see Kurapika's eyes react in this volume. I wish we could see the color for real, not like in the anime or even on the manga cover. It's got to be something to see if the whole clan was, well, you know for them. This volume also warms you up to Kurapika more if you were unsure about him before. :)
HxH has some cool little illustrations sometimes, and one of them is in chapter 20; it's the one of Killua in black (and white) with a dragon on his shirt and reptile tattoos on his arm.
Leorio is kind of a douche in this volume. Such a temper! But you learn to accept his faults (or ignore them). =P
I 'm really enjoying the Predator & Prey round - Gon's practice and the two who ended up teaming up after Tompa's trick. We also meet Illumi for the 'first' time! He's...interesting, to say the least.
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[16 . 12 . 09] |
Well, the resolution to update more often than once every five books went to hell in the proverbial handbasket.
I read The Goblin Tower by L. Sprague DeCamp. It's... very silly in just the way I like fantasy to be. It smells ever so faintly of Conan, and I found myself describing it to the boyfriend by saying "Conan is to Hercules as this guy is to Theseus", by which I meant that the main character of The Goblin Tower manages to survive with a bit more use of brains than brawn, but that you could easily insert him into Conan's world or Conan into his world and they'd fit just perfectly. This guy, whose name I forget because I can't ever remember characters' names, happened to become king of a country that kills its king every five years. He manages to escape from the axe at the very last minute with the help of his otherwise generally useless sorcerer friend, to whom he now owes a favor, and they trek across their world avoiding death at every turn. It's apparently the first in a series, but it stands alone just fine.
Then I finally buckled down and finished The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon by Gideon Defoe. I'd been keeping it as a purse book for months (to read during unexpected waits at doctors' offices or mechanics') before replacing it with something I was more interested in and forgetting it. The Pirates! books lend themselves better to slow reading than fast, and best of all to being read out loud. This one continues their trend of hilarious randomness. In this, The Pirate Captain gets fed up with piracy and decides he wants to be a beekeeper instead. True to form, he buys a deed off of Black Bellamy, his nemesis, and goes off to Elba which, he is told, will be perfect for raising bees. Little does he suspect that Napoleon is also in exile there and Napoleon is just as much a vain idiot as The Pirate Captain. Slapping fights ensue.
Then it was Shield by Poul Anderson. I find I like Mr. Anderson's shorter novels far more than his longer ones. This one was about medium but just fine. It's the story of a guy who is in possession of a personal force field. The government, and other governments, find out about it and he is forced to go on the lam to keep them from killing him or taking the shield by force.
Then it was Scavenger Hunt by Christopher Pike. I was obsessed with Pike books when I was about thirteen and recently picked up a pile of them at the library's ten cent paperback sale in hopes of rediscovering the awesome. I'd been disappointed by the two I'd read earlier but this one stood up a bit better to my memory. It's about a group of teens sent off on a scavenger hunt that turns out to be evil. It's not high-class literature by any means, but it's fun.
And last I read Fever by Robin Cook, which I absolutely hated. The story itself is well written enough and plenty gripping, but the main character, a father/scientist/doctor who finds out his daughter has a particularly awful form of leukemia, is such a terrible person that I really couldn't overlook it. He spends all of his time stomping about and screaming at people that don't deserve to be screamed at. He hits his wife. He hits his son. He makes things absolutely impossible for absolutely everybody, he takes his son's college tuition and spends it on lab mice, and rather than his wife leaving him and his daughter dying, he manages to, completely luckily, save her life at the very last minute and, surprise, they're all a big happy family again. Things like this happen, of course, bad people get lucky breaks, but I hated the guy so much that I couldn't enjoy the book.
(91/100 Odds of making it = slim)
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| Book 62 |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
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Book 62
Christmas Jars - Jason F. Wright
This novella has some odd pacing, sloppy character development and is too heavy on the melodrama without conveying much emotion.
Still, compared to what I just finished, it was a palatable story that tries (a bit too hard) to show the joy and healing that comes from giving.
In the story, a young journalist who is enduring a rough patch suddenly finds a jar of spare change and some bills on her doorstep when she needs it most. Sensing a story, she tracks down the family that started the tradition of giving away a year's worth of spare change to the needy and finds a true connection.
It's so formulaic, you know what happens next. But it tries.
And no, I am not being kind because this is a story about a reporter. Although the author is identified as a former journalist, his character bears no resemblance to the traits and abilities of any professional journo I know.
I might, however, have a weak spot for another reason. Growing up, my mother always put her change in a giant bottle in our living room. Pennies were rolled into sleeves, taken to the bank and traded for dimes. Dimes, eventually, gave way to quarters. And yes, that money often was all there was to buy for Christmas.
I don't have a Christmas jar or bottle of my own. But I do still save and roll change. Perhaps there is redemptive power in little family traditions, too.
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| #77: The Dice Man |
[16 . 12 . 09] |
by Luke Rhinehart.
Very much a book of its time (the seventies, man!), in style and morality and the obsession with sex and the sheer heartlessness and brutality.
Rhinehart makes a good job of picking apart the Dice-Man’s philosophy, showing it for what it really is (a breakdown). It's very much a period-piece and appears to have been written as an allegory of its Times, in fact, I’d say reading it as such is the only way to truly ‘get it’.
It’s interesting, best in the beginning ...more Very much a book of its time (it's the seventies, man!) both in its style and morality, the obsession with sex and the sheer heartlessness and brutality.
Rhinehart makes a good job of picking apart the Dice-Man’s philosophy, showing it for what it really is (a breakdown). It's very much a period-piece and appears to have been written as an allegory of its Times, in fact, I’d say reading it as such is the only way to truly ‘get it’.
It’s an interesting read, best in the beginning and the end (the middle, it has to be said, flags badly). Quite graphic in its portrayal of rape, violence and murder - it's not for the faint-hearted.
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| # 83 A Christmas Guest |
[15 . 12 . 09] |
A Christmas Guest
Anne Perry
Grandmama Ellison has been pawned off on relatives for the holidays, and in spite of her tough, cantaknerous exterior, she's feeling like an unwanted, regifted fruitcake. Maude Barrington, who has lived abroad in wild places for the last 40 years is also thrust upon Caroline and Joshua Fielding for the holidays by her family.
At first Grandmama Ellison is outraged that she has to share the attention of her hosts with Maude, and she is also outraged, but secretly intrigued, by Maude's colorful ways.
When the robust Maude is suddenly found dead in her bed one morning, Grandmama Ellison suspects that the death might not have been from natural causes, and takes it upon herself to search for thre truth; belatedly realizing that she feels a kinship with this woman she had barely known.
I loved A Christmas Guest! The characters, especially Grandmama Ellison and Maude Barrington were wonderful! The plot was interesting, too. This was a great Christmas read altogether!
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| Book 61 |
[15 . 12 . 09] |
Book 61
Animal Magnetism - Rita Mae Brown
Billed as a memoir of a life with animals, by an author who co-wrote a successful series of mysteries with her cat, Sneaky Pie, this seemed a fun and uplifting read.
No.
This is the single worst book of the year. Bad enough that Brown felt compelled to go on and on and on about her love of fox hunting and hounds. At least that's part of the pitch of the book.
Worse, she runs off on political tangents, about how authors with millions like her can't afford to pay minimum wage to people who work on their farms. Seriously?
She also loves to bash the federal government, because clearly it's all the politicians fault that the majority of people now live in cities and suburbs, not rural areas. You think I am exaggerating. I am not. This the argument of a woman who has the logical prowess of someone named Corky.
I got hives listen to her insult my intelligence, about how -- gasp -- at any time the market could turn, her books won't sell and then -- horror! -- what will become of her animals? This was a theme throughout the book.
She also managed, in just 256 pages, to belittle the readers of mysteries who made her all that coin; insist that only folks in the Appalachians are truly good souls; and take credit as the best pet owner ever, as she admits to -- oopsie! -- letting one of her dogs get torn apart by coyotes.
Awful, awful, awful. But nothing in my reading life prepared me for her aside, bemoaning - I am NOT making this up - the "loss of the servant class."
And now, thanks to this wingnut, I have to find myself some other books to read in the next two weeks. No way in hell this is the last book of my reading year.
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| Books 50 - 52 |
[15 . 12 . 09] |
Deadly Web by Barbara Nadel - The weakest of her books that I've read. I had to sort of slog through this one. The mystery was really obvious from the beginning, and the characters weren't as engaging.
The Wordy Shipmates - by Sarah Vowell - This was my Thanksgiving reading. I know a lot about this era and the major players, and Sarah Vowell still made it interesting and engaging.
The Gates by John Connolly - Now I have to buy this book so I can read it again and again.
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| Books 37-40 |
[15 . 12 . 09] |
Title: Incantation
Author: Alice Hoffman
Themes/Topics: Religious Persecution, Innocence
I adore Alice Hoffman and decided to give some of her adult literature a try. The imagery and descriptions of nature were beautiful as always and the story was interesting as the main character awakened to the truth of her ancestry and the heartbreak this would instigate.
Title: Sanctuary
Author: William Faulkner
Themes/Topics: Rape, Humor, Heroism
At first I loathed this novel. It was difficult for me to get a handle on Faulkner's writing style: at times it was difficult to figure out who was stating the dialogue. Eventually, I fell into a rhythm and was able to understand. The tale was tragic, which I actually liked as it wasn't wrapped up in a nice little package. There were also some pretty funny moments so I think I'll have to give Faulkner another try. I'll reserve full judgement until I read "As I Lay Dying" next month.
Title: The Moon By Night
Author: Madeline L'Engle
Themes/Topics: Coming of Age, Family, Religion
This second novel about The Austins is just as charming as the first, filled with old-fashioned family ideals and happy endings. Vicky, the narrator, finds herself pulling away as she enters her teens and learns a lot about the "real world" as this is one of the first times her family has ventured so far away from home. Through interactions with other characters, the bubble of protection that she has been held in pops but she manages to still hold on to her ideals/values while helping others realize things aren't always as dire as they seem.
Title: The Young Unicorns
Author: Madeline L'Engle
Themes/Topics: Abuse of technology, Religious corruption
In my own terminology, I found this novel to be "kookoo bananas." Although there is a similar tone to the first two novels in this series, this book veers off sharply by introducing several new main characters and focusing heavily on the religious themes. I did not enjoy it as much since I really liked the simple nature of the first two books. This book shifts from focusing solely on the Austins to focusing more on the outside world, which I simply didn't enjoy as much.
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| 50 Book Challenge #62 ~~ Wanting by Richard Flanagan |
[15 . 12 . 09] |
Wanting – Richard Flanagan 
(New York: Atlantic Books, 2009)
Years ago, my attention was caught by a book review on the radio, mostly by the book's title – Gould's Book of Fish. What a great title: how could it not be wonderful? Surprisingly, I remembered nothing about the book's content, nor the name of its author, but a couple of years ago I ran across a beautiful hardback copy of it in a US bookshop, which I bought. Because, it's a great title: how could it not be wonderful?
As it turned out, it was a splendid novel, as was Death of a River Guide, also by Richard Flanagan, which I read almost immediately afterwards. It turns out that somewhere along the way I managed to miss two other novels by Richard Flanagan, but Wanting is the latest, and again, I knew when I heard about it that it would be my kind of book. Anything that brings together Charles Dickens, Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin and Tasmanian indigenous people is going to tick all the boxes for me. And indeed it did.
However, before I talk about the novel, I should say it is a slow burner. Initially, it seems to read very quickly, and I arrived at the end in a bit of a disappointed heap, thinking 'is that it?' I read it again, to make notes for the review I was writing, at which point the subtlety of the novel's construction began to unfold, and I liked it a lot more as a result. So, read slowly.
( Commentary )
Out of 5
****
62/50 books. 124% done!
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| Book 33 |
[14 . 12 . 09] |
Title: Ballad: A Gathering Of Faerie
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 353
Genre: Young adult, supernatural
Synopsis from inside of book: James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the faeries are not as harmless. As Halloween-the day of the dead-draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul.
My thoughts: This book was okay. I did not enjoy this as much like I did for Lament: the faerie's queen deception.
Books read: 33 books
Pages read: 11,174 pages
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