Well, August is done now, and I start my third LIS class tonight! I'm taking three classes all at once now, rather than one at a time as I did over the summer, so I don't know how that's going to affect my reading. And I'm going to try to get some volunteer work with a library or two or twelve so I can get some of that experience stuff that people like so much. Also, Scott and I purchased a Wii over the weekend. And got Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box for the DS. So... yeah. Books? What are those again?
The numbers!
Days spent reading: 24
Books read: 13
...in fiction: 11
...in non-fiction: 2
...in speculative fiction: 6
...in humor: 1
...in fantasy: 1
...in thriller: 1
...in young adult: 2
...in children's: 1
Series reads: A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Codex Alera
Favorite book: The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (Review) 10/10
Challenges
Summer Lovin' Challenge: +3 books for 9/10
The Baker Street Challenge: +0 books for 0/3
My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge: +1 books for 4/12
Orbis Terrarum Challenge: +0 books for 8/10
Critical Monkey Challenge: +1 books for 1/6
31 August 2009
Musing Mondays (31 August)
Today's Musing Mondays is rather appropriate considering my Friday post, I think. "Do you buy books as gifts for children – either your own or those of friends or family? Would you buy books for all children, or only children who are already practiced readers?"
Books are the only things I buy my youngest brother for present-giving days. My parents indulge him with collectible card games and video games and such; I give him paper. :) He used to be a little miffed when he opened up a book from me, but now he lets me know what books he wants in advance! He actually told me over the weekend (his birthday's not until practically December!) that he wants "learning books and A-Z Mysteries", so we'll see what he ends up with. My beloved Jo-Beth has its kids bargain book blowout coming up, and there's always good stuff to be had there!
I don't currently have any other kid-types to buy things for, but when I imagine tiny people and the gifts I would buy them, I definitely see books headed their way.
Books are the only things I buy my youngest brother for present-giving days. My parents indulge him with collectible card games and video games and such; I give him paper. :) He used to be a little miffed when he opened up a book from me, but now he lets me know what books he wants in advance! He actually told me over the weekend (his birthday's not until practically December!) that he wants "learning books and A-Z Mysteries", so we'll see what he ends up with. My beloved Jo-Beth has its kids bargain book blowout coming up, and there's always good stuff to be had there!
I don't currently have any other kid-types to buy things for, but when I imagine tiny people and the gifts I would buy them, I definitely see books headed their way.
30 August 2009
Links of the Week
Links! What fun!
Totally fake Amazon reviews for classic books. (via LISNews)
This has nothing to do with books, but it's a fun word game nonetheless. (via kottke.org)
They want to do what with The Time Traveler's Wife? (via Just One More Page...)
Totally fake Amazon reviews for classic books. (via LISNews)
This has nothing to do with books, but it's a fun word game nonetheless. (via kottke.org)
They want to do what with The Time Traveler's Wife? (via Just One More Page...)
29 August 2009
B is for Beer, by Tom Robbins (28 August)
This is a weird little book. It is subtitled both "A Children's Book for Grown-ups" and "A Grown-up Book for Children" and it has a big ol' glass of beer on the front. Oh, yes.
It's basically an excuse for Tom Robbins to write a book of fun facts about beer and how it's brewed in the "explain this to my five-year-old daughter" way, because the protagonist is five and gets curious about beer. Her uncle, Moe, who is totally that slacker uncle that your kids love and you don't care much for, promises to take her on a brewery tour for her sixth birthday, but when her birthday totally falls apart it doesn't happen. So she drinks a bunch of beer (for a six-year-old, anyway), vomits, and then goes on an adventure with the Beer Fairy. Yeah, you read that right.
It was cute! And entertaining. And wholly unbelievable. And it had some bad puns. Really bad. Terrible. But it's still really funny.
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
It's basically an excuse for Tom Robbins to write a book of fun facts about beer and how it's brewed in the "explain this to my five-year-old daughter" way, because the protagonist is five and gets curious about beer. Her uncle, Moe, who is totally that slacker uncle that your kids love and you don't care much for, promises to take her on a brewery tour for her sixth birthday, but when her birthday totally falls apart it doesn't happen. So she drinks a bunch of beer (for a six-year-old, anyway), vomits, and then goes on an adventure with the Beer Fairy. Yeah, you read that right.
It was cute! And entertaining. And wholly unbelievable. And it had some bad puns. Really bad. Terrible. But it's still really funny.
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
28 August 2009
Farewell, Reading Rainbow
Reading Rainbow has its last episode today (after 26 years!), and NPR did a story on it. I think what's interesting to note is that funding is shifting more toward TV shows that teach kids how to read rather than shows that give kids new books to read. I, personally, think that's a crying shame.
I didn't really watch Reading Rainbow on purpose as a kid, because I was generally well above the reading level of the books on the show. But part of the reason I read so well is because I read. A lot. I would regularly grab 10 books every time my mother took me to the library and have them read in a week or less. Did I grab so many books because someone once taught me phonics? Heck no!
I read then, and read now, because someone once gave me a love of reading. My teachers and my librarians said, "You should read these Baby-sitter's Club books! Or how about some Bruce Coville? Oh, I bet you'd love Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys!" And I did. And I read them all, because they were good. And then those teachers and librarians looked at what I was reading and suggested similar but more difficult books. And I never stopped reading.
My 20-year-old brother hated reading until my grandmother gave him the first three Harry Potter books. Now he reads epic fantasy, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at! My 10-year-old brother has had to deal with all of the ridiculous Ohio achievement testing and teachers having to teach to these tests since he started school, and gets poor marks on the reading sections because he reads lower than his grade level. But he's already given me his birthday and Christmas list of books I should buy him, so I think he's going to turn out better than the good readers in his class who don't want to read.
I was pondering taking some youth services courses for my library science degree, but this article, among other things, is really making that decision seem like an excellent one.
I didn't really watch Reading Rainbow on purpose as a kid, because I was generally well above the reading level of the books on the show. But part of the reason I read so well is because I read. A lot. I would regularly grab 10 books every time my mother took me to the library and have them read in a week or less. Did I grab so many books because someone once taught me phonics? Heck no!
I read then, and read now, because someone once gave me a love of reading. My teachers and my librarians said, "You should read these Baby-sitter's Club books! Or how about some Bruce Coville? Oh, I bet you'd love Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys!" And I did. And I read them all, because they were good. And then those teachers and librarians looked at what I was reading and suggested similar but more difficult books. And I never stopped reading.
My 20-year-old brother hated reading until my grandmother gave him the first three Harry Potter books. Now he reads epic fantasy, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at! My 10-year-old brother has had to deal with all of the ridiculous Ohio achievement testing and teachers having to teach to these tests since he started school, and gets poor marks on the reading sections because he reads lower than his grade level. But he's already given me his birthday and Christmas list of books I should buy him, so I think he's going to turn out better than the good readers in his class who don't want to read.
I was pondering taking some youth services courses for my library science degree, but this article, among other things, is really making that decision seem like an excellent one.
The Long Tomorrow, by Leigh Brackett (25 August — 27 August)
I love the blurb on the cover of this book:
"By far Leigh Brackett's best novel to date and comes awfully close to being a great work of science-fiction." — New York Times
When I saw that, I thought, "Hmmm. What does that mean? Is this just an okay work of science fiction?" And I'm still not sure what the Times reviewer was thinking fifty years ago when he wrote that, but I can certainly make a hypothesis.
The only real science-fiction-y aspect of the novel is the fact that it takes place in the future, after a World War III nuclear holocaust has destroyed all the cities in the world. After this catastrophic event, the government has outlawed cities (too much of a target) and pretty much everyone has taken to being a New Mennonite and living just like the Amish do today. Part of the new religion preaches the comfort of being ignorant, thus keeping people from wanting to invent another nuclear bomb.
But a couple of kids in the Youngstown, Ohio area (not sure exactly where they're meant to be, but I recognized a couple of city names nearby, Andover and Canfield) are more curious and less mindful of their parents than they should be and end up hearing about and lusting after a forbidden city called Bartorstown, where men are purported to be able to learn things and to be allowed to remember what the world was like 100 years ago, before the bombs and terror and whatnot. These kids set off to find the city, but since no one talks about it for fear of being stoned to death, and they can't even really be sure the place exists, the quest is a little harder than they expect.
I rather enjoyed this little book! It has just the right combination of adventure and reality, and the main character, Len, is really easy to relate to. The novel is really more about Len's physical and emotional journey rather than his destination, and there's a lot of really good commentary about the human condition. And, for a dystopian novel from the fifties, the writing is pretty darn clear and concise. Good marks all around. (Also, Brackett's a chick and worked on The Empire Strikes Back, which is like plus ten more points.)
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
"By far Leigh Brackett's best novel to date and comes awfully close to being a great work of science-fiction." — New York Times
When I saw that, I thought, "Hmmm. What does that mean? Is this just an okay work of science fiction?" And I'm still not sure what the Times reviewer was thinking fifty years ago when he wrote that, but I can certainly make a hypothesis.
The only real science-fiction-y aspect of the novel is the fact that it takes place in the future, after a World War III nuclear holocaust has destroyed all the cities in the world. After this catastrophic event, the government has outlawed cities (too much of a target) and pretty much everyone has taken to being a New Mennonite and living just like the Amish do today. Part of the new religion preaches the comfort of being ignorant, thus keeping people from wanting to invent another nuclear bomb.
But a couple of kids in the Youngstown, Ohio area (not sure exactly where they're meant to be, but I recognized a couple of city names nearby, Andover and Canfield) are more curious and less mindful of their parents than they should be and end up hearing about and lusting after a forbidden city called Bartorstown, where men are purported to be able to learn things and to be allowed to remember what the world was like 100 years ago, before the bombs and terror and whatnot. These kids set off to find the city, but since no one talks about it for fear of being stoned to death, and they can't even really be sure the place exists, the quest is a little harder than they expect.
I rather enjoyed this little book! It has just the right combination of adventure and reality, and the main character, Len, is really easy to relate to. The novel is really more about Len's physical and emotional journey rather than his destination, and there's a lot of really good commentary about the human condition. And, for a dystopian novel from the fifties, the writing is pretty darn clear and concise. Good marks all around. (Also, Brackett's a chick and worked on The Empire Strikes Back, which is like plus ten more points.)
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
27 August 2009
Booking Through Thursday (27 August)
Today's Booking Through Thursday is... "What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?"
Hmm. I'm not sure just what qualifies as fluff. If it's "non-serious" reading, I think pretty much everything I read is fluff! For argument's sake, I'm going to define fluff (for today only!) as something short, fun, and non-brain-needing.
And so, I offer you The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. It is weird, it is British, it has next to no plot, it takes a couple hours to read, and the only time you need your brain is to tell it not to worry about a hyperintelligent shade of the color blue. Because if you think too hard about that, your brain will explode.
Hmm. I'm not sure just what qualifies as fluff. If it's "non-serious" reading, I think pretty much everything I read is fluff! For argument's sake, I'm going to define fluff (for today only!) as something short, fun, and non-brain-needing.
And so, I offer you The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. It is weird, it is British, it has next to no plot, it takes a couple hours to read, and the only time you need your brain is to tell it not to worry about a hyperintelligent shade of the color blue. Because if you think too hard about that, your brain will explode.
26 August 2009
Princeps' Fury, by Jim Butcher (23 August — 25 August)
More Codex Alera! I really do love this series.
So let's see. This book picks up not too long after the last book. The Canim are on their way home with Tavi, except that when they get there, there's not much home left, because the vord are back, and have taken over some ridiculously large portion of the Canim lands, which are themselves ridiculously large. Yaaay.
Meanwhile, back in Alera, the vord are back! Yaaay. This is sort of good, because the Citizens stop bickering about the First Lord for a while, but bad because, you know, there are lots of people dying. It's also bad because the vord have figured out how to furycraft. Lame. There are a couple stories here — Bernard and Amara go off to do some skulking and figure out things like where the queen is and how the vord are getting around; Isana goes north to negotiate a truce between Alera and the Icemen, a fight which has been going on apparently needlessly for years.
I was a bit miffed with this book because the story doesn't get all neatly wrapped up as it does in the other books. I mean, all of the storylines I described above are completed, but the overarching battle isn't done yet. It's not a big deal, but I'm glad the next book comes out in a couple months! Except then I'm caught up with the series and will have to start waiting for books again! Oh no! I'm gonna go cry in a corner now... or just read some more books...
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
So let's see. This book picks up not too long after the last book. The Canim are on their way home with Tavi, except that when they get there, there's not much home left, because the vord are back, and have taken over some ridiculously large portion of the Canim lands, which are themselves ridiculously large. Yaaay.
Meanwhile, back in Alera, the vord are back! Yaaay. This is sort of good, because the Citizens stop bickering about the First Lord for a while, but bad because, you know, there are lots of people dying. It's also bad because the vord have figured out how to furycraft. Lame. There are a couple stories here — Bernard and Amara go off to do some skulking and figure out things like where the queen is and how the vord are getting around; Isana goes north to negotiate a truce between Alera and the Icemen, a fight which has been going on apparently needlessly for years.
I was a bit miffed with this book because the story doesn't get all neatly wrapped up as it does in the other books. I mean, all of the storylines I described above are completed, but the overarching battle isn't done yet. It's not a big deal, but I'm glad the next book comes out in a couple months! Except then I'm caught up with the series and will have to start waiting for books again! Oh no! I'm gonna go cry in a corner now... or just read some more books...
Rating: 7/10
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
25 August 2009
RIP Challenge IV
Oh, hooray, it's time for the RIP Challenge again! -does a little dance- This was the first challenge I ever participated in, and I am excited to do it again!
I will be taking on Peril the First again, which is to read four books that fall into the genres of mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, and supernatural. It will be a good time.
Book pool:
Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
and... then I draw a blank. Give me suggestions!
Read:
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle (Review)
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson (Review)
3. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger (Review)
4. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley (Review)
On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (18 August — 23 August)
Mary has been bugging me to read this approximately since the day I met her four and a half years ago. I have finally read it. Stop bugging me, Mary. :-P
Um. Hanyway. On the Road is this weird little autobiographical novel written by Jack Kerouac about being young and free and awesome and travelling across the country with as few cares as possible. It's definitely not the kind of book I would normally read, as it is really very plot-less, but I did appreciate Kerouac's ability to set a scene.
The book is essentially this: Kerouac, in the form of Sal Paradise, travels from New York to Denver to San Francisco and back many times via bus and car and hitchhiking, and with next to no money, and meets some rather interesting people along the way. His big inspiration is Dean Moriarty, who does the "without a care" part of his roadtripping by ignoring the cares he should have (a wife, a kid, another wife, some more kids...) and doing generally whatever he wants.
I found Dean to be kind of a putz, but I can definitely see why Sal would want to follow him around the country; he's just got this crazy spirit that begs to be observed.
And reading the book made me want to do a wild and crazy roadtrip of my own, but of course with less hitchhiking and having no money and having to pick up odd jobs just to get back where I came from. Because I am not one of these "beat" kids. So maybe it would be just a regular roadtrip, without the wild or the crazy but definitely with the fun?
Rating: 7/10
(Critical Monkey Challenge)
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
Um. Hanyway. On the Road is this weird little autobiographical novel written by Jack Kerouac about being young and free and awesome and travelling across the country with as few cares as possible. It's definitely not the kind of book I would normally read, as it is really very plot-less, but I did appreciate Kerouac's ability to set a scene.
The book is essentially this: Kerouac, in the form of Sal Paradise, travels from New York to Denver to San Francisco and back many times via bus and car and hitchhiking, and with next to no money, and meets some rather interesting people along the way. His big inspiration is Dean Moriarty, who does the "without a care" part of his roadtripping by ignoring the cares he should have (a wife, a kid, another wife, some more kids...) and doing generally whatever he wants.
I found Dean to be kind of a putz, but I can definitely see why Sal would want to follow him around the country; he's just got this crazy spirit that begs to be observed.
And reading the book made me want to do a wild and crazy roadtrip of my own, but of course with less hitchhiking and having no money and having to pick up odd jobs just to get back where I came from. Because I am not one of these "beat" kids. So maybe it would be just a regular roadtrip, without the wild or the crazy but definitely with the fun?
Rating: 7/10
(Critical Monkey Challenge)
See also:
[your link here]
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
24 August 2009
Musing Mondays (24 August)
Today's Musing Mondays is... "Do you prefer to read stand-alone books, or books in series? Do you stick with a series the whole way through or stop after the first instalment? Are there any particular series you enjoy?"
Oh, I love series. Love love love. The ones I've blogged to completion (or temporary completion, at least) are Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next and Nursery Crime and John Scalzi's Old Man's War. I'm also chugging along through Jim Butcher's Codex Alera at the moment, among many other series.
What I like about series novels is that you can really get to know the characters and that you pretty much know what to expect when you pick up the next book. Good comfort reading! Of course, there are downsides to series, as well, namely that you have to wait a while (or a long while) for a conclusion.
Generally I keep up with series until they disappoint me, at which point I stop reading. (For Twilight, this took only one book.) Then, if I know someone else who has read/is reading the same series, I'll ask them to tell me what happens next and if I'm interested I'll try one more book.
Oh, I love series. Love love love. The ones I've blogged to completion (or temporary completion, at least) are Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next and Nursery Crime and John Scalzi's Old Man's War. I'm also chugging along through Jim Butcher's Codex Alera at the moment, among many other series.
What I like about series novels is that you can really get to know the characters and that you pretty much know what to expect when you pick up the next book. Good comfort reading! Of course, there are downsides to series, as well, namely that you have to wait a while (or a long while) for a conclusion.
Generally I keep up with series until they disappoint me, at which point I stop reading. (For Twilight, this took only one book.) Then, if I know someone else who has read/is reading the same series, I'll ask them to tell me what happens next and if I'm interested I'll try one more book.
22 August 2009
Links of the Week
Linkies! This first one is from me, to you: my dear Mary-friend hooked me up with GoodReads yesterday and now I am addicted. Please feel free to call me a dork, but also you should think about signing up and being my friend. Also, the book club I mentioned last week is being hosted on GoodReads and is still in its infancy... if you're interested in joining up, let me know!
Other things that might interest you:
This article from The Guardian informed me that Wuthering Heights is capitalizing on Twilight. You heard that right.
An interesting look at rejected book covers. (via kottke.org)
Dan Brown is probably not a book killer. (via LISNews)
Can't remember what that book was called, you know, the one you read in second grade with the aliens and the fish in the ear (and no, it wasn't by Douglas Adams)? Check out the Loganberry Books website to see if they already have the answer. Or send them a couple bucks and they'll try to solve it for you. Best of all, I've actually been to this bookstore! (via LISNews)
Other things that might interest you:
This article from The Guardian informed me that Wuthering Heights is capitalizing on Twilight. You heard that right.
An interesting look at rejected book covers. (via kottke.org)
Dan Brown is probably not a book killer. (via LISNews)
Can't remember what that book was called, you know, the one you read in second grade with the aliens and the fish in the ear (and no, it wasn't by Douglas Adams)? Check out the Loganberry Books website to see if they already have the answer. Or send them a couple bucks and they'll try to solve it for you. Best of all, I've actually been to this bookstore! (via LISNews)
21 August 2009
Funny in Farsi, by Firoozeh Dumas (16 August)
I posted a while back about how I don't read enough funny books; I'm starting to think it's because I don't have the right sense of humor for them. I don't know what sense of humor you need to read this book, but I certainly don't have it.
The stories in the book were definitely interesting; Dumas talks about her life as an Iranian transplant to America and how she grew up translating things for her parents (even before she spoke English well) and how much culture shock there is between Iran and California. But there was only one story that actually made me laugh, and it had nothing to do with either of those topics — this story (the second to last in the book) detailed a trip to the Bahamas during the spring break season which led to Dumas and her husband judging a beauty pageant. Oh, yes.
I think the problem I had with Dumas's stories was that she tried really hard to shoehorn a moral or just a point into almost all of them. Of course, a story should have a point, but I feel like if you have to tell the reader what the point is, the story didn't have one to begin with. I found myself thinking of a Certain Journalism Professor throughout the book; he says that after you write a story, you should remove the last sentence and see if it still works. If it does, kill the last sentence. CJP would have used a trusted assassin for this book.
Rating: 5/10
See also:
books i done read
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
The stories in the book were definitely interesting; Dumas talks about her life as an Iranian transplant to America and how she grew up translating things for her parents (even before she spoke English well) and how much culture shock there is between Iran and California. But there was only one story that actually made me laugh, and it had nothing to do with either of those topics — this story (the second to last in the book) detailed a trip to the Bahamas during the spring break season which led to Dumas and her husband judging a beauty pageant. Oh, yes.
I think the problem I had with Dumas's stories was that she tried really hard to shoehorn a moral or just a point into almost all of them. Of course, a story should have a point, but I feel like if you have to tell the reader what the point is, the story didn't have one to begin with. I found myself thinking of a Certain Journalism Professor throughout the book; he says that after you write a story, you should remove the last sentence and see if it still works. If it does, kill the last sentence. CJP would have used a trusted assassin for this book.
Rating: 5/10
See also:
books i done read
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
20 August 2009
Booking Through Thursday (20 August)
It's definitely been simple questions month over at Booking Through Thursday... this week's is, "What’s the best book you’ve read recently?"
Well. The best book I've read recently is one that I've read before, The Time Traveler's Wife. It is excellent and you should go read it right now.
I also want to mention the best new book I've read recently, and that's Woman With Birthmark. It's a neat little murder mystery wherein the reader gets to know the murderer first, then a murderee, then the police trying to solve the murder.
Both of these books would make good beach reads or good coffeehouse reads or good plane reads, etc., so no excuses! Go read them.
Well. The best book I've read recently is one that I've read before, The Time Traveler's Wife. It is excellent and you should go read it right now.
I also want to mention the best new book I've read recently, and that's Woman With Birthmark. It's a neat little murder mystery wherein the reader gets to know the murderer first, then a murderee, then the police trying to solve the murder.
Both of these books would make good beach reads or good coffeehouse reads or good plane reads, etc., so no excuses! Go read them.
19 August 2009
Sworn to Silence, by Linda Castillo (14 August)
All right, a thriller I mostly enjoyed! Hurrah! Well, except for the totally unnecessary (but happily brief) romance part. And the weird ending. But whatever.
The story: Kate Burkholder is the female, formerly Amish, rather young chief of police in Painters Mill, Ohio, the town she grew up in. Her world is doing okay until the night she gets a call about a dead girl in town — not just dead, but murdered, and not just murdered but murdered with the same MO of a serial killer that was active in the same town just sixteen years ago. Did you hear that toppling sound? Right. But the twist here (well, the beginning-of-the-book twist, anyway, totally not a spoiler) is that sixteen years ago, a fourteen-year-old Kate killed the Slaughterhouse Killer in self-defense and he's been buried in a grain silo ever since. Kate has to tread lightly on this case (as she reminds the reader about a jillion times) because she doesn't want any other cops digging into the past and figuring out what she did all those years ago.
Castillo does pretty well with this plot, except for the aforementioned bit where she likes to beat facts into the reader's skull, and the other aforementioned bit wherein Kate has the sex with a cop brought in from Columbus who has even more problems that I don't care about than Kate does. This is apparently the first in a series, and also Castillo apparently also writes romances, so I'm guessing there will be more of the unnecessary sex-having in the future. So I'm probably not going to read those. Oh well.
The other thing I didn't like about the plot was that unlike a good mystery, wherein the killer is revealed at the end and you're either like "I knew it!" or "Ohhhh, now I totally see it!", this is done bad thriller-style and you're like, "Oh, hello, person I would not have suspected until I read the last two pages, wherein it was proved conclusively that the killer is you." So. You know.
Nonetheless, it was a fun and happy time (well, as happy as murders can be) after the tear-fest that was The Time Traveler's Wife, so good on Castillo for that.
Rating: 7/10
See also:
Back to Books
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
The story: Kate Burkholder is the female, formerly Amish, rather young chief of police in Painters Mill, Ohio, the town she grew up in. Her world is doing okay until the night she gets a call about a dead girl in town — not just dead, but murdered, and not just murdered but murdered with the same MO of a serial killer that was active in the same town just sixteen years ago. Did you hear that toppling sound? Right. But the twist here (well, the beginning-of-the-book twist, anyway, totally not a spoiler) is that sixteen years ago, a fourteen-year-old Kate killed the Slaughterhouse Killer in self-defense and he's been buried in a grain silo ever since. Kate has to tread lightly on this case (as she reminds the reader about a jillion times) because she doesn't want any other cops digging into the past and figuring out what she did all those years ago.
Castillo does pretty well with this plot, except for the aforementioned bit where she likes to beat facts into the reader's skull, and the other aforementioned bit wherein Kate has the sex with a cop brought in from Columbus who has even more problems that I don't care about than Kate does. This is apparently the first in a series, and also Castillo apparently also writes romances, so I'm guessing there will be more of the unnecessary sex-having in the future. So I'm probably not going to read those. Oh well.
The other thing I didn't like about the plot was that unlike a good mystery, wherein the killer is revealed at the end and you're either like "I knew it!" or "Ohhhh, now I totally see it!", this is done bad thriller-style and you're like, "Oh, hello, person I would not have suspected until I read the last two pages, wherein it was proved conclusively that the killer is you." So. You know.
Nonetheless, it was a fun and happy time (well, as happy as murders can be) after the tear-fest that was The Time Traveler's Wife, so good on Castillo for that.
Rating: 7/10
See also:
Back to Books
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
18 August 2009
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (13 August)
-contented sigh- I love this book. You should, too. Go read it, now.
What? That's not enough information, you say? Well. Fine.
I first read this book three years ago while in New Zealand and had to tear myself away from the pages to go hang out with people in Auckland, which is one of my favorite places in the world, so... yeah. I'd been wanting to re-read it for awhile, but I worried it wouldn't hold up to a second reading, but then the movie was coming out and other people were reading it and I really wanted to read it again so I did! And it held up just fine.
This is a giant sappy love story about a girl called Clare who meets her future husband, Henry when she's six and he's thirty-six. But Henry doesn't meet Clare until he's twenty-eight and she is twenty. Right. Because Henry randomly travels through time, going to seemingly arbitrary wheres and whens. The story flows mostly chronologically through Clare's life, with brief jaunts elsewhen here and there, and describes Henry and Clare's meetings and courtship and attempts (successful and failed) to be a normal couple.
It's really sweet and made me cry a whole bunch at three in the morning while I was finishing it, even though I knew what was going to happen, even though everyone and his brother knows what's going to happen, which I think is a strong point of the novel. Or I'm just a big ol' sap. Or both. You never know.
Rating: 10/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
The Soul of the Reviewer
book-a-rama
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
What? That's not enough information, you say? Well. Fine.
I first read this book three years ago while in New Zealand and had to tear myself away from the pages to go hang out with people in Auckland, which is one of my favorite places in the world, so... yeah. I'd been wanting to re-read it for awhile, but I worried it wouldn't hold up to a second reading, but then the movie was coming out and other people were reading it and I really wanted to read it again so I did! And it held up just fine.
This is a giant sappy love story about a girl called Clare who meets her future husband, Henry when she's six and he's thirty-six. But Henry doesn't meet Clare until he's twenty-eight and she is twenty. Right. Because Henry randomly travels through time, going to seemingly arbitrary wheres and whens. The story flows mostly chronologically through Clare's life, with brief jaunts elsewhen here and there, and describes Henry and Clare's meetings and courtship and attempts (successful and failed) to be a normal couple.
It's really sweet and made me cry a whole bunch at three in the morning while I was finishing it, even though I knew what was going to happen, even though everyone and his brother knows what's going to happen, which I think is a strong point of the novel. Or I'm just a big ol' sap. Or both. You never know.
Rating: 10/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
The Soul of the Reviewer
book-a-rama
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
17 August 2009
Musing Mondays (17 August)
Today's Musing Mondays is... "How do you react to movies made of your favourite books (or even not-so-favourite books)? Do you look forward to seeing them, or avoid them? Do you like to have read the book before seeing the movie?"
This is appropriate, as I'm still sort of avoiding seeing The Time Traveler's Wife (a review of which will be up tomorrow), since I loved the book so much both times I've read it and the clips I've seen on the NYT website looked rather unlike the scenes they were meant to represent from the book. You know.
Generally, I don't much care for movie adaptations of books, though I do tend to read books that get made into movies. In the optimal case, I'll see the movie first and then read the book, because the book is almost always better (unless it's just different, which is also a good thing) and I'd rather have that be my second impression of a story.
But then you have things like the Harry Potter series, which I loved and adored and so I saw the movies, and they were sort of okay at first and then they got increasingly terrible after the third one (my favorite because it's just different, as above). And that discourages me, so I try not to pay good money to see film versions of books I adore and rather wait until I can just rent or borrow them. Then I can just turn them off if I get too frustrated.
This is appropriate, as I'm still sort of avoiding seeing The Time Traveler's Wife (a review of which will be up tomorrow), since I loved the book so much both times I've read it and the clips I've seen on the NYT website looked rather unlike the scenes they were meant to represent from the book. You know.
Generally, I don't much care for movie adaptations of books, though I do tend to read books that get made into movies. In the optimal case, I'll see the movie first and then read the book, because the book is almost always better (unless it's just different, which is also a good thing) and I'd rather have that be my second impression of a story.
But then you have things like the Harry Potter series, which I loved and adored and so I saw the movies, and they were sort of okay at first and then they got increasingly terrible after the third one (my favorite because it's just different, as above). And that discourages me, so I try not to pay good money to see film versions of books I adore and rather wait until I can just rent or borrow them. Then I can just turn them off if I get too frustrated.
15 August 2009
Links of the Week
Not so many links this week, but I do have a question for you. I'd like to start up a book club as either an in-person Cleveland club or some sort of online club (not sure how that would work, but I'm smart and can figure it out!). Would you be willing to join it? I just have such bad luck with the book clubs I know about around here; either they meet when I'm not available or they read books I'm not interested in or I don't get along with the people, or sometimes more than one of the above. I think it would be nice to supplement my non-spoilery reviews with some good in-depth discussion, and I know at least a few of you out there would make some lovely discussion buddies. So. Takers?
And the links:
Another 100 books list, this time from NPR about beach reads. I'm not sure I would read Pillars of the Earth on the beach, though, unless you've brought along some serious sunscreen. That book is hefty. (via Age 30+... A Lifetime of Books)
The Not the Booker Prize longlist (via Reading Matters)
A Twitter book club, eh? If my proposed club doesn't work out, this might be the cure for my woes. (via LISNews)
And the links:
Another 100 books list, this time from NPR about beach reads. I'm not sure I would read Pillars of the Earth on the beach, though, unless you've brought along some serious sunscreen. That book is hefty. (via Age 30+... A Lifetime of Books)
The Not the Booker Prize longlist (via Reading Matters)
A Twitter book club, eh? If my proposed club doesn't work out, this might be the cure for my woes. (via LISNews)
14 August 2009
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (11 August)
I read this series of books for the first time in my senior year of high school (about five and a half years ago), after meeting a person who carried a towel around with him and asking him just why that was. He explained it was a Hitchhiker's Guide thing, to which I said, approximately, "A who in the what now?" Well. I promptly purchased the full five-book trilogy (um, yes) and devoured it within a couple weeks. Maybe just one. Maybe it was a few days. I don't remember, but it was rather quickly.
When I mentioned to my friend Nick (not the towel-carrier, in case that's not clear) a few weeks ago that I was going to re-read them, he warned me that they wouldn't hold up well to a second reading. I doubted him, but he was mostly right, at least with this first one. We'll see how the rest go, I suppose.
For those still going, "A who in the what now?", The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a British humor novel about travelling the galaxy. Sort of. The story starts off with our main protagonist, Arthur Dent, finding out that his house is going to be demolished by the local planning commission to make room for a bypass. He is understandably displeased, and has a lie-down in front the bulldozers to protect his house, at least until his friend Ford Prefect shows up to lead him off to the pub and inform him that the world is going to end in about twenty minutes. Then the Earth is vaporized. Meanwhile, we meet Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Imperial Galactic Government, who, at the unveiling of a fancy new spaceship that he then steals. Then Ford and Arthur have a series of improbable adventures, having managed to hitch a ride on the spaceship that eliminated the Earth, and eventually meet up with Zaphod and have more improbable adventures.
There's not much of a plot, and the humor really depends on its unexpectedness, which is where the book falls apart on a second read. It's still funny, but not nearly as much so as it was five years ago. Alas.
Rating: 8/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
Book Nut
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
When I mentioned to my friend Nick (not the towel-carrier, in case that's not clear) a few weeks ago that I was going to re-read them, he warned me that they wouldn't hold up well to a second reading. I doubted him, but he was mostly right, at least with this first one. We'll see how the rest go, I suppose.
For those still going, "A who in the what now?", The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a British humor novel about travelling the galaxy. Sort of. The story starts off with our main protagonist, Arthur Dent, finding out that his house is going to be demolished by the local planning commission to make room for a bypass. He is understandably displeased, and has a lie-down in front the bulldozers to protect his house, at least until his friend Ford Prefect shows up to lead him off to the pub and inform him that the world is going to end in about twenty minutes. Then the Earth is vaporized. Meanwhile, we meet Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Imperial Galactic Government, who, at the unveiling of a fancy new spaceship that he then steals. Then Ford and Arthur have a series of improbable adventures, having managed to hitch a ride on the spaceship that eliminated the Earth, and eventually meet up with Zaphod and have more improbable adventures.
There's not much of a plot, and the humor really depends on its unexpectedness, which is where the book falls apart on a second read. It's still funny, but not nearly as much so as it was five years ago. Alas.
Rating: 8/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
Book Nut
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
13 August 2009
Booking Through Thursday (13 August)
Another simple question for Booking Through Thursday... "What’s the worst book you’ve read recently?
(I figure it’s easier than asking your all-time worst, because, well, it’s recent!)"
You know this one. If you don't, it's a little book called Castle, and I'd really rather not talk about it anymore. Ugh. Worst book I've ever read.
What's yours?
(I figure it’s easier than asking your all-time worst, because, well, it’s recent!)"
You know this one. If you don't, it's a little book called Castle, and I'd really rather not talk about it anymore. Ugh. Worst book I've ever read.
What's yours?
12 August 2009
The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket (10 August)
The power was out at our house from Monday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon, which was super-lame, as Scott and I are both rather in love with our computers. And when we're not on the computer, we're snuggling in front of the TV. Luckily for us, I had recently put The Bad Beginning on my iPod (a harrowing experience, actually, but it's all better now!), so we hooked Travis (the iPod) up to Hobbes (our stereo system) and listened for two and a half hours (such a tiny book!).
This was one audiobook experience I really enjoyed! I think it helped that I had already read the book (and also that it's a fairly simple story), because I didn't feel like I had to concentrate terribly hard to keep up. Also, it's narrated by Tim Curry, whom I adore, and the dialogue is actually done by several other voice actors so I wasn't ever confused as to just who was talking. And there were some excellent ambient sound effects that just drew me even more into the story. It was like a radio play, and very well done. I highly recommend it.
I also highly recommend this book, if you haven't already read it, and the whole series, really. The Bad Beginning kicks off the story of the Baudelaire children, who quickly become the Baudelaire orphans when their parents die in a fire that also consumes their home. The Baudelaire parents' wills specify that the children are to be sent to live with their closest (in distance, not relation) relative, which leads them to live with a distant cousin, Count Olaf, on the other side of town. Olaf is terrible to them, but no one will help the children out of their situation and they have to do what they can themselves.
And, as this series is called A Series of Unfortunate Events, I'm sure you can guess that their lives don't get much easier. In case you had doubts, the narrator (Lemony Snicket) reminds you many times that things are going to go badly and why don't you just put this book down and go do happy things, which is not quite as entertaining the second time 'round, but is still good for a giggle here and there.
Rating: 8/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
Back to Books
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
This was one audiobook experience I really enjoyed! I think it helped that I had already read the book (and also that it's a fairly simple story), because I didn't feel like I had to concentrate terribly hard to keep up. Also, it's narrated by Tim Curry, whom I adore, and the dialogue is actually done by several other voice actors so I wasn't ever confused as to just who was talking. And there were some excellent ambient sound effects that just drew me even more into the story. It was like a radio play, and very well done. I highly recommend it.
I also highly recommend this book, if you haven't already read it, and the whole series, really. The Bad Beginning kicks off the story of the Baudelaire children, who quickly become the Baudelaire orphans when their parents die in a fire that also consumes their home. The Baudelaire parents' wills specify that the children are to be sent to live with their closest (in distance, not relation) relative, which leads them to live with a distant cousin, Count Olaf, on the other side of town. Olaf is terrible to them, but no one will help the children out of their situation and they have to do what they can themselves.
And, as this series is called A Series of Unfortunate Events, I'm sure you can guess that their lives don't get much easier. In case you had doubts, the narrator (Lemony Snicket) reminds you many times that things are going to go badly and why don't you just put this book down and go do happy things, which is not quite as entertaining the second time 'round, but is still good for a giggle here and there.
Rating: 8/10
(Summer Lovin' Challenge)
See also:
Back to Books
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
11 August 2009
Critical Monkey Challenge
A new challenge! Hoorah! This one I'm doing a) because it has a funny name, and b) because the premise is just excellent.
"I, as I assume most people who read this blog are, am somewhat of a book snob. I don't pretend to read only the 'classics' of the Western canon, but there's a lot of crap out there I go out of my way to avoid. See? Right there, snobbery. Bad monkey! Bad!
So I have decided to launch Critical Monkey, a little contest designed to make us confront our fears, and read those we otherwise actively ignore. These do not have to be authors who are typically derided in literary publications; choices can be books you simply have never wanted to read for whatever reason. Never read a Charles Dickens, but always felt bad? Now's your chance to try him on for size. Have you avoided Margaret Laurence because a lousy teacher force-fed you The Stone Angel and squeezed everything good out of it (guilty!)? Time to make her acquaintance. Anything you like. Even Harlequin romance novels. I double-dog dare you to try."
There are several levels of participation to choose from, from shock to denial all the way up to acceptance. I think I'm going to pick the aptly-named Depression and read six of my avoided books over the next year-ish. And hope I like some of them.
Probable challenge list:
The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Benjamin Franklin, by Walter Isaacson
On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Actually read:
1. On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (Review)
2. Cat Breaking Free, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy (Review)
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (7 August — 8 August)
I found this book in the adult sci-fi section of my library, even though the back of the book clearly states "for ages 10 and up." I'm not sure what the librarians are trying to say here. :) Also, the back of the book totally spoiled the end for me, so I suggest not reading that if you can help it.
So. In this story our hero is a young boy, whom we meet when he is six and selected to go to something called Battle School. This turns out to be a place where other small children battle each other in preparation for joining armies and fighting bad guys in the future. The people in charge think that Ender's going to be their savior in fighting some aliens called buggers, so they isolate him from making friends and push him ridiculously hard. He takes it as much in stride as he can and becomes a pretty good fighter-type.
You'd think that would be the story, really, considering how many pages are spent on it, but the actual story happens after that, and in the span of not very many pages. But if I sum up the actual story, I'll give it away.
That's pretty much why I'm giving this book a low score; I was interested in the beginning of the book but all of that plot doesn't really matter to the end except that it gives Ender some experiences to draw on. And then after that, everything happens really quickly and it's all kind of weird. I didn't like the bugger fight, I didn't care for the side plot with Ender's siblings, and I was incredibly confused by the Giant's Drink part at the end. Very very confused. I still don't get it, though I guess I understand what happened now, after consulting the internets. Meh.
Rating: 6/10
See also:
Library Queue
Trish's Reading Nook
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
So. In this story our hero is a young boy, whom we meet when he is six and selected to go to something called Battle School. This turns out to be a place where other small children battle each other in preparation for joining armies and fighting bad guys in the future. The people in charge think that Ender's going to be their savior in fighting some aliens called buggers, so they isolate him from making friends and push him ridiculously hard. He takes it as much in stride as he can and becomes a pretty good fighter-type.
You'd think that would be the story, really, considering how many pages are spent on it, but the actual story happens after that, and in the span of not very many pages. But if I sum up the actual story, I'll give it away.
That's pretty much why I'm giving this book a low score; I was interested in the beginning of the book but all of that plot doesn't really matter to the end except that it gives Ender some experiences to draw on. And then after that, everything happens really quickly and it's all kind of weird. I didn't like the bugger fight, I didn't care for the side plot with Ender's siblings, and I was incredibly confused by the Giant's Drink part at the end. Very very confused. I still don't get it, though I guess I understand what happened now, after consulting the internets. Meh.
Rating: 6/10
See also:
Library Queue
Trish's Reading Nook
Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.
10 August 2009
Musing Mondays (10 August)
Today's question is a hard one! "Do you have a favourite publishing house -- one that puts out books that you constantly find yourself wanting to read? If so, who? And, what books have they published that you've loved? (question courtesy of MizB)"
Oh, man. I don't know from publishers, for the most part, and since I borrow nearly every book I read, I can't really scan the shelves and tell you. But! Perhaps that's part of the question, yes?
The only publishing house that I know I read; they publish John Scalzi and Brandon Sanderson and probably some other authors I like, too, but those are the ones I know. They also get me to read other books through their wonderful website. This is also where Makers is being published, but I don't hold that against them. :)
What about you guys? Do you care about publishing houses? Do you know of any with good blogs to follow?
Oh, man. I don't know from publishers, for the most part, and since I borrow nearly every book I read, I can't really scan the shelves and tell you. But! Perhaps that's part of the question, yes?
The only publishing house that I know I read; they publish John Scalzi and Brandon Sanderson and probably some other authors I like, too, but those are the ones I know. They also get me to read other books through their wonderful website. This is also where Makers is being published, but I don't hold that against them. :)
What about you guys? Do you care about publishing houses? Do you know of any with good blogs to follow?
07 August 2009
Links of the Week
Hey, guys! I'm going to start posting links to the various book-related things I find around the internets that I want to share with you all. It will be exciting. These links are pretty much all via LISNews, except where otherwise noted.
Brandon Sanderson is a beast. (via tor.com)
If children's books had smuttier titles.
Should we let poor people into our libraries? Someone thinks not.
I'm glad my library doesn't do this.
Would you be more likely to buy the Kindle if it were available at your local bookstore? I don't think that would change my mind unless I could use a Borders coupon on it. :)
Things not to do with a book.
The 100 books you should have read in college, as decided on by some arbitrary person. I like these lists because they give you good ideas, but I don't think this list is going to get me to read Principia Mathematica. Or The Lord of the Rings, for that matter. (via Educating Petunia)
On a related housekeeping note, I want to start including links to other reviews of the books I read. We'll start off small: if you've reviewed any of the last five books I've read (The Hunger Games, Brave New World, Castle, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or The Android's Dream), you should go visit those posts and comment with a link. Then, if you're feeling super ambitious, go check out my archives for others and put your links there, too! Then, if you're feeling medium ambitious, you should keep on sending the links as I put up new reviews. :)
Brandon Sanderson is a beast. (via tor.com)
If children's books had smuttier titles.
Should we let poor people into our libraries? Someone thinks not.
I'm glad my library doesn't do this.
Would you be more likely to buy the Kindle if it were available at your local bookstore? I don't think that would change my mind unless I could use a Borders coupon on it. :)
Things not to do with a book.
The 100 books you should have read in college, as decided on by some arbitrary person. I like these lists because they give you good ideas, but I don't think this list is going to get me to read Principia Mathematica. Or The Lord of the Rings, for that matter. (via Educating Petunia)
On a related housekeeping note, I want to start including links to other reviews of the books I read. We'll start off small: if you've reviewed any of the last five books I've read (The Hunger Games, Brave New World, Castle, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or The Android's Dream), you should go visit those posts and comment with a link. Then, if you're feeling super ambitious, go check out my archives for others and put your links there, too! Then, if you're feeling medium ambitious, you should keep on sending the links as I put up new reviews. :)
06 August 2009
Booking Through Thursday (6 August)
Today's Booking Through Thursday is... "What’s the most serious book you’ve read recently?"
Well, I'm sure I have to go with Brave New World, which I read over the weekend, since that's one of those "critique on current society by building a crazy future society books" and that's, well, serious. It seems I haven't read many others, but, I mean, it's summertime, people! I don't want to think, I want to read. :)
But feel free to leave me recommendations for serious stuff. Autumn is coming faster than I know.
Well, I'm sure I have to go with Brave New World, which I read over the weekend, since that's one of those "critique on current society by building a crazy future society books" and that's, well, serious. It seems I haven't read many others, but, I mean, it's summertime, people! I don't want to think, I want to read. :)
But feel free to leave me recommendations for serious stuff. Autumn is coming faster than I know.
05 August 2009
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (4 August)
What with the sequel coming out soon, I figured I ought to read this before I got ridiculously spoiled for it. But I guess I probably wouldn't have, anyway, since the whole novel is fairly predictable.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, and Collins does a good job of taking the predictable things and sort of letting them happen and moving on quickly. Except for the love story, which I disliked immensely — not this one in particular, just that there was a love story at all — and if that's what the sequel's all about, you can count me out right now. Seriously.
For those who have not hopped on this particular bandwagon, here's the deal: Katniss Everdeen lives in a world where The Man keeps his subjects down by a) dividing them into districts with no interaction between them and b) forcing two teenagers from each district to compete every year in the eponymous tournament. The last person standing wins and gets to live a life of relative luxury (not hard in the slums these districts are) for ever and earns some luxury for his/her district for the year. When Katniss's little sister gets her name picked out of the hopper, Katniss quickly volunteers to go in her place, even though Katniss certainly would not have wanted to go otherwise. She and her new rival, Peeta, go off to the Capitol and fight to the death in a specially tricked-out arena full of woods and rivers but also fireballs and mutated wasps.
I quite liked the dystopian premise here for its cruel ingenuity. The districts have to give up two children each year to fight, but even if one wins the other must lose, so there's only a bittersweet joy if there is a winner. Good stuff. And the actual battling in the arena was really well done.
For all I say about predictability, there are a couple of things that happened in the beginning of the novel that made me go, "Oh, red flag, that's important later, yes it is," but then they didn't pay off AT ALL in the end. I don't know if they'll be important in the next book or what, but they were really frustrating in this one.
Rating: 8/10
That's not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose, and Collins does a good job of taking the predictable things and sort of letting them happen and moving on quickly. Except for the love story, which I disliked immensely — not this one in particular, just that there was a love story at all — and if that's what the sequel's all about, you can count me out right now. Seriously.
For those who have not hopped on this particular bandwagon, here's the deal: Katniss Everdeen lives in a world where The Man keeps his subjects down by a) dividing them into districts with no interaction between them and b) forcing two teenagers from each district to compete every year in the eponymous tournament. The last person standing wins and gets to live a life of relative luxury (not hard in the slums these districts are) for ever and earns some luxury for his/her district for the year. When Katniss's little sister gets her name picked out of the hopper, Katniss quickly volunteers to go in her place, even though Katniss certainly would not have wanted to go otherwise. She and her new rival, Peeta, go off to the Capitol and fight to the death in a specially tricked-out arena full of woods and rivers but also fireballs and mutated wasps.
I quite liked the dystopian premise here for its cruel ingenuity. The districts have to give up two children each year to fight, but even if one wins the other must lose, so there's only a bittersweet joy if there is a winner. Good stuff. And the actual battling in the arena was really well done.
For all I say about predictability, there are a couple of things that happened in the beginning of the novel that made me go, "Oh, red flag, that's important later, yes it is," but then they didn't pay off AT ALL in the end. I don't know if they'll be important in the next book or what, but they were really frustrating in this one.
Rating: 8/10
04 August 2009
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (30 July — 1 August)
Oh, Brave New World. I was all prepared to come here and write about how weird this book is and how I didn't like it all that much, but then I got to this quote near the end of Chapter 17: "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy."
And then I realized that, while this book is preachy and antiquated and kind of boring, well, so was The Handmaid's Tale, in its own way. And so was The Stepford Wives. And definitely so was 1984, and I count that among my favorite books. So. One set of postulates it is.
Brave New World is a dystopian novel about a far-ish future wherein people are decanted rather than born and it is decided in the test tube whether each person will be an Alpha-plus intellectual or an Epsilon-minus one-of-ninety-six drone worker. Everyone is conditioned to like being at their own level and like being part of the greater society. This is all well and good, but some improperly decanted types, like Bernard Marx, feel that they could do something more with their lives than be happy.
Yeah, that's kind of the whole novel. Huxley brings in a "savage" in the middle, a man actually born outside of this happy society, and he remarks on how ridiculous it all is for a while, and everyone else remarks on how ridiculous he is for a while.
There's not really any sort of conflict in the novel, which I guess makes sense when everyone is happy, but it makes the going rather slow. And this future isn't really terribly dystopian; even the people who don't like the society get to have their own place to live in the end. I'm really lukewarm on this. If you've got more fiery comments to make about the book, please do so!
Rating: 6/10
(My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge)
And then I realized that, while this book is preachy and antiquated and kind of boring, well, so was The Handmaid's Tale, in its own way. And so was The Stepford Wives. And definitely so was 1984, and I count that among my favorite books. So. One set of postulates it is.
Brave New World is a dystopian novel about a far-ish future wherein people are decanted rather than born and it is decided in the test tube whether each person will be an Alpha-plus intellectual or an Epsilon-minus one-of-ninety-six drone worker. Everyone is conditioned to like being at their own level and like being part of the greater society. This is all well and good, but some improperly decanted types, like Bernard Marx, feel that they could do something more with their lives than be happy.
Yeah, that's kind of the whole novel. Huxley brings in a "savage" in the middle, a man actually born outside of this happy society, and he remarks on how ridiculous it all is for a while, and everyone else remarks on how ridiculous he is for a while.
There's not really any sort of conflict in the novel, which I guess makes sense when everyone is happy, but it makes the going rather slow. And this future isn't really terribly dystopian; even the people who don't like the society get to have their own place to live in the end. I'm really lukewarm on this. If you've got more fiery comments to make about the book, please do so!
Rating: 6/10
(My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge)
03 August 2009
Book Blogger Appreciation Week — The Meme
Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming up in just a month and a half (right before my wedding, I've just realized [oh no, my wedding is in a month and a half!]), and to prepare, participating blogs are filling out veteran and newbie memes. Here are my newb responses:
1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you? The fact that I read more now! The first few posts on this blog, you might notice, are short and rather far between; they were from my simple Summer Reading Project list that I once kept. Once I started the blog officially (actually, another coincidence: right around the middle of September!), my reading picked up and my thoughts got more coherent since I was writing to other people and not just myself.
2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you? I can't really say any one blogger has been my muse, but I thank everyone who has visited and especially those who are reading this in their feed readers; it's nice to feel read! I also thank Mary for recommending books wherein everyone dies but also generally amusing me with her comments. :)
3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer? How many new friends am I going to make out of this? Because I suspect it's a lot.
If you have a book blog and haven't signed up for BBAW yet, do it! Do it now!
1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you? The fact that I read more now! The first few posts on this blog, you might notice, are short and rather far between; they were from my simple Summer Reading Project list that I once kept. Once I started the blog officially (actually, another coincidence: right around the middle of September!), my reading picked up and my thoughts got more coherent since I was writing to other people and not just myself.
2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you? I can't really say any one blogger has been my muse, but I thank everyone who has visited and especially those who are reading this in their feed readers; it's nice to feel read! I also thank Mary for recommending books wherein everyone dies but also generally amusing me with her comments. :)
3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer? How many new friends am I going to make out of this? Because I suspect it's a lot.
If you have a book blog and haven't signed up for BBAW yet, do it! Do it now!
Musing Mondays (3 August)
Today's Musing Mondays is a library meme! What fun!
Library Habits meme:
1) If you don't frequent your local library, why not? Totally not applicable.
2) If you do visit the library, how often do you go? I go at least once a week, sometimes more if my holds come in at weird times. I also visit my university library twice a week since my LIS classes are there. :)
3) Do you have a favorite section that you always head to first, or do you just randomly peruse the shelves? I always hit up the new general fiction section and then the new mystery and new sci-fi/fantasy, because they're all right in the same area. And then I go rescue Scott out of the A/V department, but usually we end up picking out a movie or two before I can drag him away! When I can't find a handful of books downstairs, I head up to the fiction stacks and wander around hoping a cover will strike my fancy, or I'll track down a librarian and ask what books s/he recommends.
4) How many books are you allowed to check out at one time? Do you take advantage of this? I can check out either 50 items or $1000 worth of items, whichever I rack up first. I can't say that I've ever checked out so much! The most I've checked out in recent memory is somewhere around 15 books and movies. It helps that I stagger my check-outs, I think, but it hurts that I renew things all the time.
5) How long are you allowed to have the books checked out? Most books are three weeks; the official "new books" that you can't put a hold on or renew are two weeks. DVDs and such are one week.
6) How many times are you allowed to renew your check-outs, if at all? This is what I love about my library! I can renew my books (as long as there aren't holds on them and they're not "new books") up to five times, which means that I don't usually have to worry about reading books immediately. Of course, this means that I have, at times, kept library books for nearly four months before returning them, and once I even returned such a book unread! Oh, the horror.
7) What do you love best about your particular library? I really like that the holds and the checkout system are self-serve; I can walk into the library, grab my books off the shelf, scan my books, and be out in five minutes... if I want to be, which isn't often.
8) What is one thing you wish your library did differently? Hmm. I guess I wish there were more reading groups for adults; the ones they have, if they're my cup of tea, meet when I'm not available and that makes me sad. I really like talking about books with people. (I know, shocking!)
9) Do you request your books via an online catalogue, or through the librarian at your branch? I do all my requesting online, because I tend to find the books I want to request online and it's just all convenient and stuff.
10) Have you ever chosen a book on impulse (from the online catalogue OR the shelves) and had it turn out to be totally amazing? If so, what book was it, and why did you love it? Oh, look, an impulse picks tag! There aren't many, since you all do such a good job of giving me books to read, but there are a few. The one I really really really liked is called The Palace of Illusions and it was just a great little book that spoils its own ending from the start and yet somehow had me still reading to the end. But I won't recommend it, so it can be your impulse pick, too!
Library Habits meme:
1) If you don't frequent your local library, why not? Totally not applicable.
2) If you do visit the library, how often do you go? I go at least once a week, sometimes more if my holds come in at weird times. I also visit my university library twice a week since my LIS classes are there. :)
3) Do you have a favorite section that you always head to first, or do you just randomly peruse the shelves? I always hit up the new general fiction section and then the new mystery and new sci-fi/fantasy, because they're all right in the same area. And then I go rescue Scott out of the A/V department, but usually we end up picking out a movie or two before I can drag him away! When I can't find a handful of books downstairs, I head up to the fiction stacks and wander around hoping a cover will strike my fancy, or I'll track down a librarian and ask what books s/he recommends.
4) How many books are you allowed to check out at one time? Do you take advantage of this? I can check out either 50 items or $1000 worth of items, whichever I rack up first. I can't say that I've ever checked out so much! The most I've checked out in recent memory is somewhere around 15 books and movies. It helps that I stagger my check-outs, I think, but it hurts that I renew things all the time.
5) How long are you allowed to have the books checked out? Most books are three weeks; the official "new books" that you can't put a hold on or renew are two weeks. DVDs and such are one week.
6) How many times are you allowed to renew your check-outs, if at all? This is what I love about my library! I can renew my books (as long as there aren't holds on them and they're not "new books") up to five times, which means that I don't usually have to worry about reading books immediately. Of course, this means that I have, at times, kept library books for nearly four months before returning them, and once I even returned such a book unread! Oh, the horror.
7) What do you love best about your particular library? I really like that the holds and the checkout system are self-serve; I can walk into the library, grab my books off the shelf, scan my books, and be out in five minutes... if I want to be, which isn't often.
8) What is one thing you wish your library did differently? Hmm. I guess I wish there were more reading groups for adults; the ones they have, if they're my cup of tea, meet when I'm not available and that makes me sad. I really like talking about books with people. (I know, shocking!)
9) Do you request your books via an online catalogue, or through the librarian at your branch? I do all my requesting online, because I tend to find the books I want to request online and it's just all convenient and stuff.
10) Have you ever chosen a book on impulse (from the online catalogue OR the shelves) and had it turn out to be totally amazing? If so, what book was it, and why did you love it? Oh, look, an impulse picks tag! There aren't many, since you all do such a good job of giving me books to read, but there are a few. The one I really really really liked is called The Palace of Illusions and it was just a great little book that spoils its own ending from the start and yet somehow had me still reading to the end. But I won't recommend it, so it can be your impulse pick, too!
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