I have nearly completed the 100 book challenge. Whether I will reach 250 this year is touch and go - bat at least that means this really is a challenge, so I will post up my reading thus far (touchstones not working so well for a list this long!):

Here are the first 75:

A bag of Moonshine - Alan Garner
A Darkling Plain - Philip Reeve
A Storm of Swords - George R R Martin
AD 381 - Freeman
AK - Peter Dickinson
Anthem - Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Avalon::The Return of the King - Stephen Lawhead
The Basalisk - N M Browne
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
Boy's life - Robert McCammon
Bridge to Terabitha - Katherine Paterson
Byzantium - Lawhead - Stephen Lawhead
Chains of Darkness - Michelle Sagara West
Death Match - Lincoln Child
Deeper - Jeff Long
Dying to Win: the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism - Pape - Robert Pape
Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman
Emperor: the Field of Swords - Conn Iggulden
Emperor: the Gods of War - Conn Iggulden
The Emperor of Earth Above - Sheila Gilluly
Ender in Exile - Card - Orson Scott Card
Eva - Dickinson - Peter Dickinson
Fallen Angels - Larry Niven et al.
Finn's Going - Tom Kelly
Fire from Heaven - Mary Renault
Firstborn (a Time Odyssey) - Clark - Arthur C Clark et al.
Frozen in time - Ali Sparkes
Funeral games - Mary Renault
God's politics - Jim Wallis
Grail - Stephen Lawhead
Granny - Anthony Horowitz
Groosham Grange - Anthony Horowitz
Hamas in Politics - Jeroen Gunning
History of the Pelopponesian War - Thucydides
Interworld - Neil Gaimen et al.
The Iron lance - Stephen Lawhead
Jack Flint - Joe Donolley
Kafka on the shore - Haruki Murakami
Krondor the betrayal - Raymond Feist
Lady of Mercy - Michelle Sagara West
Lee Raven Boy thief - Zizou Corder
Listen to the dark - Maeve Henry
Lyonesse 1: Suldrun's Garden - Jack Vance
Magic Moon 1 - Wolfgang Hohlbein et al.
Magic Street - Orson Scott Card
Magyk - Angie Sage
Metamorphasis - Kafka
Midnight Blue - Pauline Fisk
Necropolis - Anthony Horowitz
Next - Michael Crichton
Pendragon - Stephen Lawhead
River Boy - Tim Bowler
Roman Mysteries Omnibus II - Caroline Lawrence
Skellig - David Almond
Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell
The Switch - Anthony Horowitz
The Histories - Cornelius Tacitus
Tales of beedle the bard - J K Rowling
Tears of the Salamander - Peter Dickinson
The Boggart and the Monster - Susan Cooper
The boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
The dream merchant- Isabel Hoving
The Enemies of Jupiter - Caroline Lawrence
The Fire of Ares - Michael Ford
The Giant of Inishkerry - Sheila Gilluly
The Golden Bough - Sir James Frazer
The Good Thief - Hannah Tinti
The Lion Tamer's Daughter - Peter Dickinson
The Pirates of Pompeii - Caroline Lawrence
The Ropemaker - Peter Dickinson
The Time Cavern - Todd Fonseca
The Wind Tamer - P.R. Morrison
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Wrath of a Mad God - Raymond Feist

Message edited by its author, May 21, 2009, 11:44am.

#76-80:

Heroes of the Valley - Jonathan Stroud (another great book by this entertaining author, even if it was a little slow getting started)

After Dark - Haruki Murakami (I really don't think I am going to find a Murakami book I like!)

Quest for the Faradawn by Richard Ford.

This is an old book I found in my attic - but don't rush out an buy it! Read my review for why not.

The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke

This is a delightful children's adventure set in Venice. Some plot elements seem to be taken from Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes", but this story is quite different. There is nothing too deep here, but it is a good fun read.

The Graveyard Book

This book was very good. My second Neil Gaiman, but this was like a different writer from the lacklustre Interworld. Very good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks ronincats for the review that caused me to buy this.

#81 Twilight - this was an excruciatingly painful read. I found myself putting it down and really wishing I did not have to pick it up again. 464 pages of a silly story that really would serve as the first chapter of a better work. It appeals to 12 year old girls - my niece likes it so I had a read. I can't imagine it would appeal to anyone else.

#82 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - A short but interesting read.

#83 Clay - David Alton. The touchstone won't seem to work. Not the best from this award winning author, but another unusual, engaging and well written tale.

#84 Choke Chain - Jason Donald

This is a powerful read, sensitively written. The author transports you into his world, and makes you care for the characters more than you can know. Ultimately the book is a coming of age novel, but it is also more than this. It is a snapshot of life in late 1980s South Africa. It is a book about morality, and might makes right, and exclusion and racism and so much more.

#85 A Week in the Woods - Andrew Clements

This was a harmless but not terribly exciting adventure with nice but not wholly believable characters. Children 9-11 may like it, but there is nothing there for older readers and there are books I would rather recommend to children.

#86 Siddharta - Hermann Hesse

This was an interesting look at the search for enlightenment, with some good themes. The journey being the most important part - summed up in the line that Wisdom cannot be taught - seem to me to be where Hesse was leading.

On the downside, this was not a particularly riveting read. Part of it may have been the translation I used, which used words such as "quoth" (I last read that in a Victorian translation of the Mabinogion), but mostly I think it was that the style of story was just too different to the style people are used to now in modern English texts.

Worth reading, but I did not come away seeing quite why this is a classic. I suspect it was more the right book at the right time.

#87 The Owl Service - Alan Garner. This is an old award winning book, written by the writer of some wonderful stories, set very close to where I live. Nevertheless I did not get on well with this book. The link with the story of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogion was interesting, but I did not identify with the characters, I felt the research was not as good as it could have been, and the setting therefore felt unreal. Maybe I am too familiar with the intended setting. Who knows!

Still it was not a bad read. Just not one of the best from this author.

#88 Virtual Shadows - Karen Lawrence Oqvist.

A non fiction work about our privacy in the information age. This book cintains some wrrying information, some helpful hints and other useful anecdotes. My only criticism was that it was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. Not quite polemic, not quite resource, nit quite technical description. It nevertheless makes a very good introductory text on this important subject.

#89 Eragon - Christopher Paolini.

I bought this when it was new and being heavily promoted. I took it home and read the first few chapters and then shelved it. It was slow starting, derivative and a bit clunky.

I decided to give it another go, and forced myself through it but to be honest I was almsot skimming at the end. This book could appeal to people who have read little inthe genre, but it is tired and cliched with some clunky dialogue. On the other hand it was the first offering from a young author, and one can only presume that his later works will be so much better. But this one was not a book I enjoyed.

#90 A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

This book was slow going because of the slang. I understand why Burgess used the slang - how it roots the first person narrative in the culture he has created, and how it dampens the graphic violence he describes so the book can be read for its message and not for pornographic value. However, the need to endlessly consider vocabulary and learn new words made it more like reading a book in a foreign language, and I struggled somewhat with it.

The message of the book is powerfully made - that we must be free to make moral choices. That a will enslaved so that it cannot choose evil is no more good than the evildoer - and ultimately the book describes how moral choice is at the heart of a repentance and change of mind.

The same message can be found in O.S. Card's The Worthing Saga (among others)I preferred Card's story though.

#91 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

This book is very very good - except where it isn't! David Mitchell is an excellent writer - one of the best I can think of. There is humour and interest, and plenty of stuff to chew on and consider. I love his use of metaphor in description. I was giggling out loud at his description of a crowded train journey.

His writing is also unusual, but unlike some of the other writers who attempt unpredictability, he does not forget that the threads of a story need resolution, and so the book is also a satisfying read.

My only criticism is that the particular structure of this book made it extremely slow starting. Indeed the nature of the 6 stories within a larger story left me more engaged with some parts of the book than others. Nevertheless the book repays the effort taken to get past the slow start.

#92 Global Warming - The Complete Briefing - Sir John Houghton

This is an essential book for anyone who wants to move past the media hype on this important subject. It covers the breadth of the science in an accessible manner, and chapter 8 looks at why we should be concerned. Houghton discusses his personal belief there, and successfully brings issues of religion and ethics into the debate - something which, as he points out, is all too often deliberately left out of the discussion.

#93 How the States Got Their Shapes - Mark Stein

An interesting book discussing how the borders of the states of the United States of America were decided. There are many interesting snippets of history here, although whenever I knew something of the history myself, I tended to feel that the treatment was too superficial, and often interesting stuff had been left out.

The book would have to be much bigger to accomodate all the available information of course. On the other hand, some of the "why is the straight line border on the 39th parallel" type questions got very repetitive in time.

#94 Birth of a Warrior - Michael Ford's second in his series following Lysander, a son of a Spartan warrior and a Helot mother in the Sparta of 510 BC. This is a great work, filled with historical information in much the same way as Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries. Fast moving and interesting - for ages 9-11+ in particular, but I enjoyed it too.

#95 Mad Dog Moonlight - Pauline Fisk

Pauline Fisk writes some strange books, but she writes them well. This one has a setting so local I could fill in the blanks for the real equivalents of the characters in the story! (Although it is, of course, completely fictional). This made the story more interesting again - although she does something strange with the area geography on a couple of occasions.

A good read though. Fuller review forthcoming under the book reviews.

#96 Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami.

I have removed the rest of Murakami's works from my reading list. Some people obviously get a lot from him and enjoy his work, and he does write well. Personally though I cannot bring myself to really care about his characters. Especially as I know his story threads will be dumped unresolved at the end of each book.

I don't mind some unresoved threads in a book. But with Murakami it would be nice to have some that are actually resolved.

This book is about a kind of love triangle. Boy loves girl. The girl loves another girl. Not a book I would normally read from any author to be fair. I only bought this one because it was my fourth attempt to really "get" Murakami.

All his protaganists seem to be disconnected - adrift in a sea of people. The sense of isolation in the multitudes is a recurrent theme in his work, and remains so in this book.

But there is also surrealism, and the vague inference of alternate universes. We are no dount meant to wonder what happened to Sumire, the Japanese girl who goes missing in Greece - but then again, when we look at some conceptual art we are *supposed* to wonder what that is telling us to, or else we should bring our concepts to it. For both Murakami's novels, and for conceptual art, I personally find myself unable to care.

That no doubt makes me a cultural philistine - but then I don't care about that either. So Murakami lovers will shake their heads, knowing I have missed the point. I will shake my head and agree with them - and go and read a book that makes sense instead.

I will add that reading other people's thoughts on Murakami - inevitably they confess to not knowing what the books are about either - or else they come up with conflicting meanings. Any book that is so deep that it defies careful analysis cannot be rightly distinguished from eloquent nonsense.

#97 The Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

Another recommendation by ronincats, and another good one. This was a wonderful adventure, nicely paced and told with good humour. I already have American Gods on my wishlist for the future.

Welcome to our group! Your list looks great. Was "Black Swan Green" any good?

Thanks for the welcome.

Black swan green was one of the best books of the year for me. I like the coming of age genre - but this one was especially good. Well written with some wonderful use of language, thoughtful, engaging. I would recommend it.

#98 Patrick: Son of Ireland - Stephen Lawhead

Lawhead repeats a tried and trusted formula with this retelling of the of Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. As usual there is reich historical detail mixed with a very healthy dose of fiction - but I have read a lot of Lawhead this year, and the stories are beginning to feel a little similar to one another!

#99 Flyte - Angie Sage

An excellent followup to the wonderful Magyk. It would be hard to top Magyk - and I don't think she succeeds in doing so, but the book is still a good and entertaining read.

#100 Physik - Angie Sage

This series continues to delight with a mixture of tension, adventure, poignancy and a wonderful off beat humour.

#101 Magic Thief: Lost - Sarah Prineas

This was an enjoyable story. Having read it straight after Physik, I could not help but feel that the Septimus Heap tale is better. But that should not detract from the strengths of this book which should enthrall younger readers particularly.

#102 Tom Sawyer Abroad - The Tom Sawyer book that Mark Twain probably should not have written! Take a look under the book info for my full review.

Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 4:38am.

The touchstone goes to a combined edition, which is not where your review is. I did track it down, though, just by searching for the title. Interesting concept, but unless I decide to do a complete Twain immersion, I think I'll pass based on your review.

Are you planning to read Queste soon? I'll be interested in your reaction compared to the other books.

Thanks for pointing that out Roni.

I am reading Queste now. Will be finished later tonight. Thus far I am thoroughly enjoying it. This is one excellent series of books.

#103 Queste - Angie Sage

Queste is a wonderful book in an amazing series. Probably the best story of the set, although the first one - Magyk is also excellent. I am very glad I read these.

The series will inevitably be compared with Harry Potter, as both are wonderfully funny tales set in a world of magic, and with some other plot similarities. But the Septimus Heap books are not obviously derivative of the Hary Potter phenomenon. They stand very well on their own merits.

There are still some loose ends so I suspect Angie Sage is not done with this series yet. We will see.

#104 Tom Sawyer Detective - Mark Twain

This is a short book. Like Tom Sawyer Abroad, I felt it messed a little with the established canon of the Adventures of Toim Sawyer and Huck Finn. It was clearly a case of Mark Twain poking fun at a genre of detective story using his favourite characters.

This story was not as unbelievable as Tom Sawyer abroad, but still not a book I would read again and again like I did with Huckleberry Finn.

Woohoo! Delighted to find out you concurred with my opinion re: the best Septimus Heap books! I loved Queste, and certainly look forward to seeing more of Sage's work, whether in this series or another.

Have you read the Flora Segunda books or the Charlie Bone series, or either of the Garth Nix series (the Abhorsen trilogy or the Keys to the Kingdom series)?

I read Midnight for Charlie Bone some years ago. I had previously read and loved all Jenny Nimmo's work, but I was a little disappointed by this book as it seemed like the author had taken the Harry Potter concept and conciously written a new book with many of the same themes - albeit for a slightly younger audience.

Having said that, maybe it is time I gave it another chance.

Garth Nix I frequently look at and frequently don't buy! Partly that is because the books are so heavily promoted - I don't like publisher's agents to decide my reading choices :) But one of these days I will actually buy one - probably Abhorsen.

I don't think I know Flora Segunda. I will look that up.

Thanks.

#105 Deltora Quest - The Lake of Tears - Emily Rodda et al.

My daughter read Emily Rodda's "Fairy Charm" books (nothing will entice me to read those!) and we were able to suggest these because it was the same author. She loves these books - has just finished the second one and we are rapidly buying up the series. I read this one after she finished it.

This is the second in the popular Deltora Quest series. The story picks up where the first left off, with the quest for the next gem from the set that have been scattered across the world.

There are riddles and puzzles in this book. Few have any originality, but they are still good riddles, and for younger readers who have not seen them before, they will be fun to read and to amaze their friends with. However there is less here for older readers - Amazon suggests an age of 9-12, but my recommendation would be children a little younger would enjoy these more.

#106 A Life of Trust - George Mueller.

This is essentially the diary of George Mueller up to 1860, with some autobiographical notes at the start and a few digressions in the text. Mueller was a most remarkable man, who started a number of orphanages in the west of England in the 19th century whilst refusing to take any salary, and living each day by faith that God would provide his financial needs. Remarkably time and again, this is exactly what happens, and his work grows - but all the time with him refusing to benefit personally in any way.

Mueller's story is remarkable and uplifting. However, this book would be hard going for many readers because - being a diary format - it goes over and over the same issues: Short of money - spent the day in earnest prayer - money arrived just in time. Many people will prefer the shorter biographical works which pick a few of these occasions, and make the point that it happened time and time again.

In the other hand, reading the full diary just shows how often this happened.

The text also contains some poignant moments. The loss of his son, the woman who gave all she had but never wanted when she was herself in need, the orphan who gave sixpence towards the building of a new orphanage.

It was also good to see the book reach its climax in converging on the 1859 revivals in Ireland, Wales and elsewhere, and to read of their own revival amongst the orphans.

All in all a worthwhile book to read, but shorter biographies would suit many readers.

#107 The Lost Boy by Linda Newbery

This is something of a ghost story. Matt has moved to the Welsh book town of Hay on Wye, and is cycling one spring day when he realises he has misjudged his speed and the road and is about to career out in front of an oncoming landrover. He closes his eyes... and minutes later finds he is fine and indeed that no such landrover went past. What is more, he is by a roadside memorial to someone with his own initials.

The mystery deepens and issues of friendship, bullying, family, and grief are intertwined in an enchanting tale that is well worth the time spent reading it.

#108 Jackdaw Summer - David Almond

David Almond is one of the most distinctive writers of junior fiction in the UK and probably the world right now. His books are at once accessible and yet profound. They stir emotion, ask questions, introduce mysteries - and sometimes resolve them.

An over-riding theme is often conflict of one kind or another, and this is never more true than in this book. This book sees conflict between friends falling out, between people with different views, between governments and soldiers in Iraq and Liberia. All this in the back drop of beautiful Northumbria in a glorious summer.

But it is more than just conflict. Liam, the son of an artist mother and writer father, discovers an abandoned baby that he is led to by a Jackdaw. With the baby is a jar of money. this mystery sets in train other events which lead inexorably to the novel's conclusion.

David Almond will not be everyone's favourite author. He is an author to make you think "what was that book about"? And the answer is that it is about many things. But anyone who really enjoys reading should love what he does with language - so simply wrought and yet so profound - not one word out of place.

I enjoyed this book very much.

VERY nicely written review, Stephen! I've only read Skellig by this author, some years ago, but I have every intention of finding more of his books to read.

Thanks very much Roni :) I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do.

I found a book that we have a differenc of opinion on though! I just finished "Stealing Jesus" and have written a very long review (spilling over into my blog) because this was not one of my favourite works! I liked the idea of what the book was trying to do - but the execution failed almost from the start I think.

Still life would be boring if we all agreed on everything :)

#109 Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

I read this one on your recommendation Roni, and it is a worthwhile read. Jenny Nimmo gets away from the elements in her work that put one too much in mind of Harry Potter and develops the story in its own direction. I will keep reading this series now.

#110 Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity - Bruce Bawer.

Review is posted.

#111 The Great Elephant Chase - Gillian cross at her best. I love this author. She writes interesting stories with a tremendous versatility. This one is about a girl, her elephant and the boy who helps her cross 2000 miles of 19th century America, pursued by the man who wants to take the elephant away from her.

#112 God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World - John Micklethwait

I was reading this book more or less alongside Stealing Jesus, and it was a most odd experience. Often the two books were covering the exact same ground and yet their perspectives were vastly different.

This book, however, is less concerned with questions of the merit of faith as to describing what is actually happening on the ground. As such it was an extremely interesting read, from authors who are not particularly wedded to any of the world views they are describing.

The fundamental thesis is that the assumption that modernity leads to secularism is in fact incorrect - that as countries are developing, they are becoming more religious, and that Europe here is an exception. What is more there is a thesis as to why this should be the case. The argument is made that US style separation of church and state, and the resulting pluralism this produces creates a need for religions to compete in a religious marketplace. This commoditisation of religion is well described, with historical examples of how churches have become more outward focussed and keyed into the winning of converts as they have found themselves unable to rest on the laurels of state establishment.

The result is a kind of tailored religion that people such as Bruce Bawer have clearly reacted against, and yet has proved incredibly durable. The result is that religion has prospered.

The book looks at issues for the future. It also discusses how some policy makers have radically misunderstood the place of faith in foreign policy, and also deals with issues of tension in the major religions themselves.

All in all this is an excellent work - not least because it avoids any triumphalism in the information it presents. This book is about numbers, but it is fundamentally an analysis of the current situation. It nowhere propounds a view that a numbers game is actually what the issue should be all about, and this then lends credence to the findings.

The analysis is so wide ranging it is going to be wrong in places. I detected a few places where I felt the authors had simplified issues (for instance in the summary of Robert Pape's work in Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. But read with an open mind, I think this book provides a convincing thesis.

#113 The Story of the Treasure Seekers - E Nesbit

This is a wonderful and timeless work. A first person narration by one of the Bastaple children who live in the Lewisham Road in the late 19th century. The family has come upon some hard times and the children seek to assist their Father's precarious financial situation by searching for treasure wherever it may be found.

There is plenty of wonderful and subtle humour that is appreciated all the more by thse looking back on childhood with adult eyes. The stories themselves are engaging, and provide a snapshot on late victorian life - at least for the middle classes. If nothing else it will help people understand pre-decimilisation currency!

But all in all this was an enjoyable read, and one I would not hesitate to recommend.

#114 Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

This is the first of the Alex Rider series. Its typical Anthony Horowitz. The kind of adventure story boys from about 11+ will love. Nothing deep - just a good action adventure.

Alex Rider is 14 years old but when his Uncle is mysteriously killed in an alleged road accident, he gets swept into the secret world of MI6, where he is enlisted as a spy and sent to investigate the same case his uncle was working on.

What pre-teen or teenage boy has not dreamed of being Alex Rider? 14 year old spy sent to save his country from evil. As such this is a concept that will work. Not the kind of book you would recommend to adults who do not enjoy children's fiction though.

#115 Griffin's Castle - Jenny Nimmo

A strange tale set in Cardiff of a bright young girl who unleashes powers she may not be able to control. The story put me in the mind of Midnight Blue by Pauline Fisk

#116 Sabriel - Garth Nix

This is definitely a teen read at least. Its a good story based around an Old Kingdom that exists very close to a world we would recognise as real, and the dead creatures that stalk it. Sabriel, an 18 year old girl is thrown into a new role as the Abhorsen, taking over from her father who has suddenly gone missing or died. The fantasy is well imagined and novel.

I've been slammed with end of the school year report writing, and haven't been posting much as a result lately. I love Nesbitt, found the latest Jenny Nimmo a little eerie, especially from my school psychologist hat, and am a big fan of the Abhorsen trilogy. I actually like the second book, Lirael, even better than Sabriel.

I cannot disagree with some of your caveats about the Bawer book, although I still like him more than you. I think one of the things I liked was that I did not have much information about the historical roots in the last century of things like dispensational millenialism, which his book provided. It seems like you have more background in this area than I--are there books you would recommend?

I wonder how God is Back contrasts with Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God? I suspect they have very different ways of interpreting the same data.

Thanks Roni. I tries the Abhorsen trilogy after your recommendation, and as usual its a good recommendation!

Regarding Bawer's book, I don't know of one book that really covers the same ground. Some books on similar themes though (all of them more conservative than Bawer's book) are:

Evangelicalism - The Future of Christianity - Alister McGrath. This looks at the phenomenon of fundamentalism, tracing the history of the movement much as Bawer does, but drawing a distinction between fundamentalism (which he defines by its oppositionalism) and other conservative Christianity. His is a call to evangelicals to look to what is good in their wing of the church, whilst changing what is not. I liked it a lot, but a friend who is a professor of Church History was not entirely happy with the definition of fundamentalism (something he tells me that is incredibly hard to define!)

Prove All Things - Martyn Lloyd Jones. This book provides the missing pieces of Bawer's history (and is also a very good read). He uses several sources, one of which is B B Warfield's Counterfeit Miracles which traces the history of the Irvingite movement. I very much liked Counterfeit Miracles, which I felt was a sensitive look at some of the errant groups of the 19th century.

I haven't read The Battle for God. I will have to search that one out.

I hope your report writing goes well :)

#117 Spirit Walker - Michelle Paver

This book is the second in its series, set in the post glacial Europe of 6000 years ago. It is a well crafted world, and the author develops the story of the first book nicely in this one. Torak's adoptive clan get sick and the boy goes in search of a cure - first to the deep forest and then to the sea. The people he meets and adventure's he has are all wonderfully and convincingly drawn.

Message edited by its author, Jun 17, 2009, 8:22am.

Thanks, Stephen. You had mentioned the Jones book in your review, and that looks like where I am going next.

Four reports down and 4 to go, and 3 days of school left! It's going to be close!!! Thanks for the support.

#118 Aquila - Andrew Norriss.

Children's books don't have to be deep to be great. And this one is not deep but it was a very good and funny read. Two 11 year old boys stumble upon an ancient hidden life-raft from an alien civilisation - and decide to keep it to themselves. Formerly the two worst students in their year in school, they surprise their teachers with their sudden enthusiasm for archeology, history, geology, mathematics and Latin!

This book was very funny, fast paced, slightly absurd, and yet also highly believable (well... except for the whole UFO thing). I enjoyed it very much and have already suggested my daughter read it!

Message edited by its author, Jun 17, 2009, 8:23am.

#119 Storyteller - G R Grove

I bought this one following reviews here, and having failed to get the sequel in the member give away (which I was disappointed as the subject matter - 6th century Welsh culture - is right up my street).

The book is self published, and before reading this book I would say that invariably indicates a book that suffers from a lack of editing, rewriting and critical review. Indeed I normally avoid self published works because there is usually a good reason that they were rejected by publishers.

But the reviews on this book suggested the writing was of high quality - and they were right. The author writes well, with a passion for her subject which she has researched well (not perfectly mind. Like Stephen Lawhead et al., she calls Cardiff "Caer Dydd" - a folk etymology that does not realise that the city is named for the river Taff, and in the 6th century was Caerdyf - incorporating the genitive form of Taff as the case system was still found in Welsh at that time. She also speaks of Aberystwyth, where the 6th century settlement of the area would have focussed around Llanbadarn Fawr. I could go on and be picky, but that would be unfair as her research is at least as good as other writers setting tales in this period, and in fact better than most).

Heavy use is made of early Welsh writings in this book, and the author clearly has a feel for the period - presenting a tale that would not be amiss as an addendum to the Mabinogion.

My only real criticism of the work would revolve over the overall lack of tension. Not that it is entirely lacking - there are times when this book is as well written as any I have read - but it does not grab you from the start as a tale with some kind of conflict in it that must be resolved. This might be what an editor at a publishing house might have brought to the work. Then again, maybe not. It could just be my own preference here as there is plenty to interest a reader in this story.

#120 Why There Almost Certainly Is A God: Doubting Dawkins - Keith Ward

This book took me several days to read despite the fact it is very short at 150 pages. The reason is the content. Here at last is a book that avoids simplistic platitudes and tired old arguments traded by one side or another in religious debates. Instead the author builds a philosophical argument that systematically deconstructs the unchallenged assumptions of Dawkin's materialism, and replaces them with a philosophical framework that is at its core rational and consistent - and that makes God necessary.

Keith Ward is much more honest than certain other writers in this book. His case is convincing, but he draws attention to its limitations - primarily that we must assume the universe is both rational and intelligible. Thus ultimately all he can tell us is "why there almost certainly is a God". But he does exactly that.

The book is heavy going, and will probably only be appreciated fully by readers who know at least some philosophy, some logic and some physics. Ward does his best to put the argument in terms that don't require such a grounding, but the argument relies heavily on the understanding of terms such as necessity, contingency and other such concepts that are the bread and butter of philosophers, but not often discussed over a game of darts in the pub.

But it is quite clear that Keith Ward does something quite remarkable - he pulls the rug from under the assumptions of materialism, and if nothing else, it shows that the arguments of Dawkins et al. cause rather more problems than they resolve. The clear message of this book -whether you accept the hypothesis of God's existence or not - is that belief in God is profoundly a rational belief.

Thoroughly recommended - a book to make you think long and hard whether you agree with it or not.

Prove All Things - Martyn Lloyd Jones

I can't find a copy--the library doesn't have it, neither do B&N or Borders, although they have lots of other books by him.

Hi Roni,

A web search led me to a page that suggests that the two books "Joy Unspeakable", and its companion "Prove All Things" have now been combined into a single volume. Thus the later editions of "Joy Unspeakable" should contain everything that was in both volumes.

The material in these books was originally preached as a series of sermons by Lloyd Jones, but later reworked into book form. I hope you like it, because in my opinion there is a lot of stuff in there about the vertical dimension of Christianity (as Bawer put it).

#121 A Feast of Crows - George Martin

Glad I finally finished this. These books are good but very overwritten. I hope very much the next book in the series wraps things up.

#122 The Black Rood - Stephen Lawhead

Second in the "Celtic Crusades" trilogy - but this trilogy also follows on from Patrick: Son of Ireland in some ways. The book is Lawhead's usual mix of well researched history and a good dose of fiction filling in the gaps.

Duncan, son of Murdo: Lord of Caithness, sets out on pilgrimage to the Holy Land following the death of his wife in childbirth of their second child. He vows to find and bring home the Black Rood - the true cross of Christ. This book recapitulates much of the former book (The Iron Lance). We have the journey to the Holy Land, broadening of horizons, disillusionment, capture, escape and a little bit of treasure hunting on the side. However the first book was better than this one as it had a more human conflict that had to be resolved also in the form of the greedy bishop of Orkneyjar. This book lacked that tension.

#123 Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment - James Patterson

An interesting, if not totally novel concept - a group (or flock) of genetically modified kids have escaped their creators who had them imprisoned in a "school". They are hunted down ruthlessly and fight daily for survival, whilst all the time there is something deeper going on. One of their number - Maximum Ride - is somehow special, and is being called to save the world.

Some poignant moments in this book, which does not lack for action and general adventure.

#124 The Mystic Rose - Stephen Lawhead

Concluding the "Celtic Crusades" trilogy - this book kind of had to be a grail quest really! Better than the second book, Lawhead recovers his sense of storytelling, but still I think the first of the series was the best. Lawhead writes action sequences very well, but the journeying I found a little too long winded.

In this story Cait, daughter of Duncan, son of Murdo Ranulfson, witnesses the murder of her father at the hands of a Knight Templer. She promises not to avenge him, but does not keep her vow - but before she can kill her father's murderer, she discovers an important document and steals it. This then sets in train a grail quest across medieval Europe.

#125 Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

David Mitchell's first book is an astounding debut by a first rate author. This book is not a single narrative but 10 short stories, each one linking with the previous and yet each one with a different narrative voice, and different storyline. In the end, things come back to where we started from but in a way that invites you to challenge your assumptions about how you read the first story.

There is a sense of surrealism in the whole - you are left at the end of the book wondering what is "true". This perhaps is the books intent, and in this it is strongly reminiscent of Murakami. Mitchell has lived in Japan, and much of this book is set in East Asia, and it seems likely he has deliberately learned from Murakami. His writing is easy going, humorous but with hidden depths. However, I much prefer David Mitchell's work because, unlike Murakami, his work actually seems to go somewhere! There are none of the characteristic dropped threads of Murakami that make you think he just stopped writing when he got bored. Instead, Mitchell's work has a clear structure that takes you through the entertaining short stories leading to the final conclusion.

These are also slightly spooky stories. Some are blatantly supernatural, but others just are classic ghost stories - where a likable protagonist has to work through bad things happening to them.

Each story has plenty to occupy you too. There is astute political comment, some interesting science that leads into philosophical questions and so on. Definitely a book to discuss with friends.

Now some small criticisms: Firstly, I read this book after reading Cloud Atlas. David Mitchell wrote this book first, and that now makes me think Cloud Atlas was less innovative. The inter-related short story idea being largely what Cloud Atlas does first. This seems characteristic of Mitchell. Even in his wonderful "Black Swan Green", the chapters could almost stand alone as short stories on their own, even though they all add to a very coherent narrative. Mitchell is a master of the short story form though.

Secondly - and this one is just me being picky - the scientist mentions a jiffy and we are told there are so many in a second. Except we are treated by a 1 followed by very many noughts. Two things struck me: (1) How are you supposed to read that number? What word did she actually use when she said that? and (2) no scientist would have said that. They would have said that there are 3 times 10 to the 29th power jiffies in a second. In any case, unless I miscounted, there were too many noughts there! But making that point shows I am a pedant, and not that Mitchell is a bad writer!

All in all this is a very good book, well worth reading.

*

Incidentally, I am now half way to completing my 250 book challenge - with just a few days to spare before 6 months of the year was up!

Message edited by its author, Jun 29, 2009, 7:16am.

#126 Jason and The Friendly Ghost - Violetta Antcliff

This is a short work. I bought it as an ebook from Fictionwise, although Mystic Moon press sell a paper version. Even so, it does not seem to have an ISBN number. The cover image is dreadful and it feels self published, which is a pity because it is actually not a bad book.

Written for children, the book follows 10 year old Jason who meets a friend in a park. When he brings him home, his parents cannot see the friend and the address the friend gives is in a street that does not exist.

Unravelling this mystery leads to conversations with a crotchety neighbour, and accidentally volunteering to join a church choir.

The writing is good. Not brilliant, but definitely good enough. I could imagine children loving this book. It talks about evacuation and the second world war, and one criticism is that it maybe does not develop this enough. The book could have gained a few pages and been a little more educational.

All in all, a fun short read. Not a literary great but one that children of about 7+ could certainly enjoy.

#127 Number9Dream - David Mitchell

Number 9 Dream is a captivating and intelligent novel, well written - as one would expect from David Mitchell, and with some deep themes. The book is about a Japanese young man who is in search of the father who abandoned his family when he and his twin sister were born. He is also haunted by another significant event of his past.

Through the book, the search for his father gradually bears fruit, but ultimately it becomes clear that this knowledge was never important, as the protagonist - Eiji - comes of age through a series of enlightening experiences.

But this is no ordinary coming of age novel as much of the action takes place in Eiji's head. His dreams are as important to the narrative as the real events - and sometimes its a little tricky to separate what is real from what is imagined.

In the end, we see that the number 9 dream is that which starts after every ending. That is, when the other issues are resolved and Eiji comes out of the dream world and seems to wake up into this world, the 9th dream begins - the beginning of Eiji's real life. (Shades of the much shorter "Dandelion Wine" here!)

Parts of this novel were gripping, and the whole narrative sweeps you along. However it is not my favourite book for various reasons - most notably that this seems to be a rather self conscious attempt to write a Murakami novel by David Mitchell. The very title hints at this. #9 Dream is a song by John Lennon. Murakami, of course, achieved fame through his "Norwegian Wood". Indeed, the dialogue in this book compares #9 Dream with the song Norwegian wood.

Eiji is also found to be reading "Wind Up Bird Chronicle" as he contemplates his death - wondering what will become to the man stuck down the dry well.

And there are many other subtle references to Murakami. The structure of the book has trademark Murakami surrealism. We have love hotels and prostitutes and bad sex. We have the multiple threads and war time reminiscences. At times I thought I actually was reading Murakami.

Anyone who has seen my reviews will know I am not actually a big Murakami fan, because of his tendency to drop all the threads without resolution. Mitchell does not do that - except for the very deliberate new thread that is dropped at the end of chapter 8. But all the same, I think I would prefer to read David Mitchell for David Mitchell. I love his humour, his power of description, his ability to write in different voices, and his understanding of how to write a good story.

This book contained all of the above, but I hope his future works are less self consciously derivative.

#128 A Boy of All Time - Che Dee

This is another book from a very small publisher who are selling ebooks through Fictionwise, and print versions using lulu.com. Little more than self published works, they do however have some quality control, and this book was not terrible. However it was not very good either. Fictionwise lists this as a young adult book, but the target age group must surely be much younger children. Mashu discovers a kind of fairy folk called the tullies, and must hunt down the magic words needed to save the Big Tully from extinction.

There are traces of Peter Pan here ("I do believe in fairies!") or other quest books - but this one is hardly gripping! It may be that it is meant for readers so young that I am unable to identify with them. Children starting out on reading may love this book, but there are better written quest tales, and I would hesitate to pass this on to either of my children - only because at that age they can only read a certain number of books before they grow up, and I would prefer to have them reading the Moomins and other great works!

Nevertheless, if another reviewer rates this more highly having actually given it to a 6 year old - believe them, not me!

#129 The Language of Stones - Robert Carter

I picked this book up at a bargain bookstore in the Rhayadar Welsh Crystal factory. The cover does not really give a good guide as to the content, which is essentially an alternative history tale set around the onset of the War of the Roses. But this alternate world is very different from ours. Magicians wander around, drawing power from magical stones and keeping other creatures at bay. Willand is taken into the care of a magician, Gwydion, who speaks magic mostly in Gaelic, but sometimes slips in a bit of Welsh.

Potentially this is a great story, but I found it extremely slow. It took hundreds of pages for the characters to develop, and indeed a good many pages just to start to unravel the setting. The book would maybe have done better to forget the links with real history and geography (which are tenuous), and stick to a full scale fantasy world.

A faster plot would also aid the book.

Nevertheless it was not terrible. Anyone enjoying alternative history may love this book. The writing was good, and the action - when it finally came - was intersting, with a good and reasonably complex plot.

All in all, not a book I would recommend - but some readers with different expectations could love it.

#130 In the Hall of the Dragon King - Stephen Lawhead

This is an early Lawhead book - I think maybe only his second ever. My feeling is that he las learned a great deal since writing this one. These days his descriptions are so much more vivid, his characterisation so much deeper, and he really understands how to put a story together. Another big difference is that these books are fantasy, whereas these days Lawhead writes mostly historical fiction.

The story in this book is not bad. Quentin, an acolyte of the god Ariel, leaves service at his monastry to take a vitally important and urgent message to the queen. This leads him into an adventure to seek out a lost king, and he finds out a good deal more on the way.

Even though the story is not bad, it is not brilliant either. As a story it does not compel you to keep reading, and the characters are just a little too wooden to really care about. Whereas much modern fantasy has its genesis in Middle Earth, this book seems to have had its genesis in Narnia. Not that this fnatasy world is at all like Narnia - but you can see the same story ideas in places.

A book for Stephen Lawhead completists only.

#131 The Recruit (Cherub) - Robert Muchamore

My 9 year old nephew loves these so I bought the first one to take a look. On the back cover is a warning "not suitable for younger readers" which I took to be a marketing thing (what better way to get your book read by younger readers wanting to read something that makes them seem older!) However, having read the book I feel the warning should be taken somewhat seriously.

This is unfortunate though as the story would be ideal for younger readers, and indeed young teens too. It is quite reminiscent of Anthony Horowitz - a perfect scenario for boys. Who would not want to be chosen as a Cherub agent, enlisted by British Secret services for those missions that adults cannot manage?

The scenario is perfect and should make for a great and readable series. The first story was a good adventure - maybe staying a little too long on the basic training, but still one that younger readers will love, and older readers can appreciate. I fully intend to buy the next book in the series.

But the writing occasionally lets the book down. As a father, there is language in the book and some messages from the book that I would not want to put in front of younger readers, and I will not be recommending it to anyone under the age of 11. Its not terrible, and some of my problem with the language just marks me out as an old fogy! But it was unnecessary, and a real pity as this book could be enjoyed by 9+ otherwise.

#132 Christianity: A Guide for the Perplexed - Keith Ward

This book is like a short systematic theology of Keith Ward's Christianity. Taking the reader through the creation narratives, doctrines of God, Jesus, the miracles, the atonement, the Bible and prayer (and several I haven't mentioned). This book describes Keith Ward's understanding of his faith and to some extent his vision for its future.

Keith Ward sits in the liberal wing of the church - but he is what one must admit is a thinking liberal. For him the resurrection is still very much the defining event of the Christian faith. The experience Christ's disciples had with the risen Jesus being what makes Christianity more than the collected wisdom of a moral teacher.

However the book is perhaps too wide ranging, because it is therefore necessarily brief on each subject. As a handbook on Christianity, this is not bad - but I think it would leave someone brand new to the concepts of Christianity still somewhat perplexed. As a guide to what Ward believes, it does better - and is an interesting read. But anyone really wanting to understand Ward or any of the positions he describes in the book will want to wade through his list of further reading, and then quite a bit more!

#133 Inside Grandad - Peter Dickinson

This is an enchanting short work by one of the main stays of UK Children's fiction.

Gavin and his grandfather are putting together a beautiful model boat that will be for the boy's 11th birthday. Asked what he will call the boat, Gavin suggests "Selkie" - they were fishing and saw a seal, so Grandad had been talking about Selkies. And then, out of the blue, grandad collapses witha major stroke.

The rest of the book describes Gavin's journey to help his grandfather overcome the stroke and return to him, with just a little help from the Selkie.

This is a moving tale sensitively written. There is a hint of magic here - just enough to enchant. I was put in mind of Skellig by David Almond as I was reading, although one tale does not borrow from the other - they are both their own stories.

This book is worth reading. Peter Dickinson does not do fairy tale endings, but this book is a positive one - and ultimately it is more about Gavin than grandad. Something of a coming of age tale, and a recommended read.

#134 Flight of the Hawk - G R Grove

In this sequel to Storyteller, we read of the continuing journies of Gwernin, who now travels much further to Britain's far north - what would become Scotland, but here is still the land of the picts. the travels also pass naturally through Rheged (modern day Cumbria and southern Scotland).

The author taps a rich well of early Welsh writings to flesh out the world she constructs. She draws on the sources we have from Rheged, as well as from the writings of Aneurin in Y Gododdin. As such, the 6th century British landscape is drawn vividly, with feeling and with attention to detail. She even works hard on her Old English to give the sense of Saxon otherness. You come away from this book with the strong sense you have visited the period in question.

My principle problem with the first book was the the lack of an abiding tension. This book deals with that - maybe not from page one, but read in a little way and the tension mounts to set up a delicious encounter with a nasty antagonist called Bleiddig (a Welsh/Brythonic name roughly translated as "Wolf" or "Wolfy"). The story was much better for this, and the writing remains consistently of a high standard. This book is definitely worth a read - especially for lovers of Welsh stories, stories of ancient Britain, historical fiction or fantasy.

Message edited by its author, Jul 10, 2009, 4:34am.

#135 Empyrion - Stephen Lawhead

This doorstep of a book is more commonly split into two. However I have the full 900 page version (with smallish print). As a story it's not so bad. Orion Treet - a historian - is paid handsomely to visit the new colony world of Empyrion, established a few years previously. On arrival though, things are not at all as expected and over the course of many pages it becomes clear that 3000 years of colony history have past, and that very early in the life of the colony there were disasters that almost destroyed them. What is more, there has been a split that saw rival fighting colonies, that throw the new visitors into a war.

This book failed to grip me though. It is to my knowledge Lawhead's only foray into science fiction. There are some nods to other works in the story - particularly to Dune by Frank Herbert, when Treet et al. are crossing a desert. In some ways this book is like Dune - but not, I am sorry to say, in depth of vision. Rather it is long winded with a tendency to get a little boring!

Ultimately the story is a good one, but I think it could have been delivered in a book one third the size of this one - then I would probably have enjoyed it.

#136 The Warlords of Nin - Stephen Lawhead

This is the second in the Dragon King series - an early Lawhead trilogy. As per my thoughts in the first book, this is an early work and this shows! The characterisation is not great. The book is reminiscent of Narnia stories in the high degree of metaphor used to impart spiritual truth.

Comparing this with the whole of the Narnia series, this book comes up wanting I think. This is because the prophecy surrounding the hero, Quentin, is that he will be the priest king who wields the sword that will defeat the hordes of Nin. But in Christian theology the prophet, priest and king is Christ. Quentin is an exceptional protagonist, but I cannot see him as in th eplace of Christ in this story. Of course, in Narnia, it is Aslan who has that place, and who is so clearly set apart from the protagonists of the stories.

Maybe I do the book an injustice by comparing it with Narnia. Maybe the metaphor is not intended to be so comparable - but in that case I felt it was too obvious.

All that criticism in mind, it was not a terrible book. Some people will enjoy it. Some people could really love it. I am just not one of them.

#137 The Sword and the Flame - Stephen Lawhead

This is the third of the Dragon King Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead. The evil necromancer, Nimrood, makes a return in this story and manages to kidnap Quentin's son. Thus a new quest is born. I think since writing these books, the author has learned something important about an antagonist. It is not enough just to have your characters tremble at the name of the antagonist - for a really delicious antagonist, there needs to be some deliberate and nasty thing done to the protagonist that really involves the reader. In this book I did not get that feel - but in later works by this author he does it wonderfully.

Wo this trilogy is really for Lawhead completists, but some less exacting readers than me could well enjoy the questing and the journey of discovery the characters go through. I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, but it is still a good story.

#138 The Giver Lois Lowry

I enjoyed this book very much and finished it quickly. It is a tale that will set you thinking, and it is just a good story. However I must admit to some disappointment. My expectations were very high for this work. It is Newbery medal winner, a book that we know from the author's comments, was very well received - beyond anything she had experienced before, and thus I was expecting something exceptional. What I read was a story that had some flaws, and set me thinking, but was no more profound than Nicholas Fisk, Robert Westall (albeit himself a Carnegie medal winner) or other such authors. This was a very good book - just not exceptional.

Before I get picky, I would point out I would still like to recommend this book to older young adult readers.

But what did I not like? Well the world itself seems to lack explanation. We can understand perhaps why the world would seek to homogonise itself to reduce difference and relieve the suffering of difference and choice. But if we run with that premise, it is not clear why we would choose not to see colour. It is not really clear why we would choose to create the life we are shown. There is no hint, even, of some major event that caused people to react by turning themselves into automata. Personally I much preferred Orson Scott Card's "homecoming" series and also his "Worthing Saga", both of which explore this idea much more completely, and for my money, would be better and more thought provoking stories than this one.

But this is a childrens or young adult book, and space is limited, so we can excuse much of this perhaps. We also must excuse the lack of explanation of what is happening with memories. Why are memories never lost? what is the mechanism for the passing of memory? We don't know but just take it on trust that this is now how the world works.

Some people will not mind these gaps one bit, and for them this will be a five star book. For me though, I felt there were better renditions of the same story, although I still certainly enjoyed this one.

#139 Roman Mysteries: The Gladiators from Capua - Caroline Lawrence

This series is a wonderful introduction to Ancient Rome, warts and all. This book is the most gruesome yet, with a recounting of Titus' games of 80AD. In this book the children from Ostia are missing Jonathan, who is presumed dead after the fire in Rome, but Lupus hears of a curly haired boy beggar boy in Rome who claims to have stated the fire, and thinking this just might be their friend, the children set off once again to investigate the mystery.

Full of rich historical detail, this book is also an enthralling story. Children of about 8+ will love it, but parents be warned - there is some gruesome (if entirely authentic) stuff here. Think "horrible histories" but with a better storyline!

#140 Madam Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

This was a surprisingly good read. I should have known this, of course, seeing as it is an acknowledged classic, but I was afraid it was going to be a classic romance - a book with more feminine appeal. As it turned out it was a fairly biting criticism of the notions in those very books that I dislike. This is a story about romantic notions, unrealistic expectations, destructive behaviours and where these things lead.

One strength of the book is the way the characters are so carefully drawn from an every day experience that could be us. We can all see bits of ourselves mirrored in the lives of one or other of the characters in this book - and the reflections we see are unflattering.

The writing style of this book, to my mind, was a little too highly narrated. A more modern work would probably make greater use of dialogue. And indeed, where there was dialogue it was sometimes the case that I felt I was missing its intent, and I had to reflect upon it a little more. However, considering that this is not a modern book, it was highly readable - and it would be unfair to expect modern conventions in writing to be adhered to in a book of this age.

The story, however, is timeless. The message is one that needs to be heard again and again, and it will certainly sit on my recommended books list.

#141 Victory - Susan Cooper

Molly is an English girl starting a new life in modern day America. Sam is an 11 year old country boy who is pressed into service upon HMS Victory at the turn of the 19th century. Two threads of a story that drift together when Molly finds a very special book in a second hand bookshop one wet day.

In the course of the book the reader is transported back to the Battle of Trafalgar. An enjoyable read with plenty of good historical detail and a mystery to resolve itself.

I am so glad that Susan Cooper is writing books again. I think I have read everything she has written, and every book is enjoyable and of a high standard. This book is no exception, and this is as ever a good young adult book.

But, in fact, when reading into this period of history, I would rater Powder Monkey by Paul Dowswell a little more highly. There is even more historical detail in that book, and the story was every bit as good. If you want to read just one book about life aboard a ship in Nelson's day, read "Powder Monkey". But if you want to read a very good story, this one is worth it too.

#142 Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper

This is a re-read, completed as part of a LibraryThing group read.

I first read this book many years ago, and the follow up books that make up the "Dark is Rising Sequence". I think these books are perhaps the best series I ever read. Certainly they are the best young adult series. The series is a timeless wonderful masterpiece.

This book is - in my opinion - possibly the weakest of the series. But that is not really a criticism. This book is still wonderful, exciting, fast paced classic treasure hunting adventure. Three children on holiday in Cornwall with their parents and a mysterious uncle discover an ancient treasure map lost in a secret room in the house they are staying in. The very idea is wonderfully captivating. Throw in some Arthurian legend too and it is no wonder that children and adults alike can and do love this book. This is an absolute classic.

Re-reading it, I noticed a few things that irritate me as an adult reader (although I did not care when I was younger). One such thing is the slightly Enid Blyton feel, where the adults can miss the obvious and thus the kids solve all the mysteries. However, some of that is explained in later books - and where it is not explained, it does not really ruin the story.

I highly recommend this book and even more highly recommend the rest of the series. Well written, wonderfully imagined and perfectly set with good characterisations, an engaging plot. Once again, part of the best series I ever read.

#143 Coram Boy - Jamila Gavin

This is an award winning book set around the philanthropic venture of one Captain Thomas Coram, who set up a home for orphans in the 18th century - the Foundling Hospital. Thomas Coram and his orphanage were quite real - it was said to be the first incorporated charity in the World. Other characters in the book are also real (such as George Frideric Handel , although the story is, of course, fictional.

Nevertheless the story feels very real. It is the kind of story that could almost certainly have happened, and no doubt something akin to the events here did happen. Fictional faces tell us real and painful stories. This book read like a modern day Dickens. Indeed, the author also makes good use of the Dieckensian coincidence. Of course Dickens was describing current events for him, whereas this story is history - but what a wonderful and well researched historical tale this is.

The story starts in Gloucester with Otis who takes babies and money, saying he will deliver them to Coram's Foundling Hospital. However he murders most of the children. Meanwhile we follow the lives of two young people as they grow to maturity, before leaping forward 9 years to follow the lives of two friends in the hospice. There are many story threads here, but they all twine together to make something beautiful.

#144 Guantanamo Boy - Anna Perera

A harrowing account of how a fifteen year old boy gets caught up in George Bush's ill conceived "war on terror". Accused of planning to bomb London afet he and some friends collaborated on the creation of a computer game, British school child, Khalid is abducted from Karachi in Pakistan, where he was visiting relatives. His CIA kidnappers will not believe he is 15, nor that he was just passing through a demonstration in Karachi to find his father. They fly him to Kandahar, where he is tortured into signing a confession that is then uses to send him to Guantanamo bay.

This is an immensely painful story - mostly because so much of it is based in real events. If anything, the inhumanity is toned down to make it suitable for young adult readers. Khalid, the protagonist, is fictional - but the story is true, and it is a book that will make you angry, depressed, frightened and sad. And yet there is a message of hope there too. Hope that we can answer evil with good, and turn away from the violence that is perpetrated against us.

This book moved me deeply. I knew it would have to - it is one of those subjects that cannot leave you untouched. But depressing as the subject material must inevitably be, and despite the evil it describes - I cannot recommend this book highly enough. There is no glossing over of unhelpful facts here. There is no wallowing in self pity or partisanship. Instead there is a story of evil, injustice, understanding, love and ultimately hope.

Just back from a week away and have a few books to write up. I'll do this over several posts so I don't get bored writing the reviews!

#145 Shadow Forest - Matt Haig

This was an enjoyable adventure for younger readers - albeit with a rather sad start. Samuel and Martha Blink are left orphaned when an accident kills their parents on the way to a 10th birthday treat for Martha. After this they must travel to Norway to live with their mysterious aunt, who has some odd rules - the oddest of which is that they must never enter the nearby forest. It is no surprise when this rule is ignored. The adventures that follow are imaginative and will especially appeal to younger readers. The author provides humourous asides, and the book has a slightly quirky feel that will again appeal to younger readers.

The asides reminded me of Jonathon Stroud in his Bartimeus trilogy. Not quite as well done though, and for this reason adult readers would enjoy this book less than they would enjoy Bartimeus, but that is fine because adults are not the intended audience, and I would recommend this book for children aged say 9+ (younger too maybe, but with a strong caution about the sad start).

#146 The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

A brilliantly imagined series that will entertain readers, and indeed educate them somewhat. This was a grand adventure in which Percy Jackson discovers he is far from ordinary. In fact he is the son of a Greek god. Not just any god either - one of the big three! And with he discovery comes responsibility and adventure and much unfairness. Accused of a theft, he must use his wits, his talents and his friendships to battle through and prevent a catastrophe of epic proportions - a potential war of the gods.

This book is undoubtedly worth reading. It is a wonderful adventure, although at times I felt plot elements and explanations were contrived. It is a funny book too. Not as hilariously tongue in cheek as Harry Potter of Angie Sage's Magyk, but it certainly has something in common with these books.

This was not the greatest book I ever read but it was a good enjoyable read that kept me coming back for more, and I will certainly be buying the next in the series.

#147 Septimus Heap - The Magykal Papers - Angie Sage

The Septimus Heap series has earned its place his year on my favourites list, and for good reason. Entertaining plots that sweep you along, a wonderfully and brilliantly imagined world, and a perfectly ridiculous sense of humour that is strongly reminicent of J K Rowling.

However, this book is not one you would read on its own. It provides background materials and quirky observations from Angie Sage's world. It fills in some missing history, recapitulates some of the story and keeps you smiling. However, the book is not a story in its own right. This is a book for people who already love the series.

But if you love the series you will want this book. Not that it is brilliant in the same way the stories are. But it is just good fun, and if you cannot get enough of Septimus Heap then this will fill your longing until the autumn when the next book is due out. It is also beautifully illustrated, and with a good few fun items to pore over and consider. It is also possible to guess which parts of this book may be used in the next one.

I enjoyed this very much - but if you are new to the series, don't start here - buy "Magyk" instead.

#148 Tobacco Sticks - William Elliott Hazelgrove

A story of a boy and his relationship with his father. I think I would place this in the coming of age category, although it is not entirely a coming of age story. It is also a story of privilege, power, corruption and also about racism and exploitation. It was perhaps a little slow starting, but the book culminates in a wonderful trial scene - albeit one I found harder to take entirely seriously since reading "Tom Sawyer - Detective".

The trial read well, keeping you involved much like one of those ones on TV. But I also wondered, as I read, whether the American court system is really riddled with all these things that seem stereotypical now. Do lawyers "object" to every other sentence for instance? Are cross examinations really so brief? For that matter, is the term "caucasian" really used for white people?!

But the answer to all these questions might be - in fact is likely to be - yes. So I am not faulting the book on accuracy. Those were merely thoughts going through my mind because the trial read so much like every other trial scene I have watched or read. There is a twist in this trial of course - but even then it is not unusual to have such a twist - so my criticism of this book is merely that it did not entirely surprise me! But I did enjoy it and would still recommend it.

#149 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is deservedly a best seller. Taking a fresh look at the lives of ordinary German people during the Second World War, the narrative focuses around Liesel Meminger, a young girl who loses her mother and brother to the newly risen power of the Nazis. Too young at that point to understand why this happened, backward in her school studies, she nevertheless picks up a book during the burial of her brother - her first book theft. she journeys through her new life, and we see her grow and develop through the tender love of her foster father and the harsher love of her foster mother.

The characters in this book are what make it so great. Each character is sensitively drawn and able to surprise you. You will fall in love with these people. Broken and flawed people, yes - but people just like you and me.

But the most unusual character in the book is the narrator - death. Having death as a narrator will keep you wondering and fearful. That cannot be good, can it?

I am still a little dubious about the device of using death as a narrator, but it clearly allowed the author to deal sensitively with some big and disturbing issues.

All in all this is a tremendous book. Better, I think, than "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" which suffered a little from having a protagonist who was just a little too innocent and clueless to be entirely plausible. Liesel is someone who you can believe in and come to love through the story. The same can be said of the other people in this book. A highly recommended read.

Message edited by its author, Aug 1, 2009, 5:06am.

#150 The Children of Hurin - J R R Tolkien

This book is hard going. Compare the writing here with Tolkien's masterpiece "The Lord of the Rings" or with his wonderfully accessible "The Hobbit" and you will be very disappointed. This is not surprising as this is not a book Tolkien published. Instead, as detailed in the preface, the book has been brought together from Tolkiens noted with a minimum of editorial input, rewriting etc. long after the author's death. This hands off approach was clearly adopted after the complaints over the editorial input into the tales of the equally impenetrable "Silmarillion". But the problem here is that whilst the tale is clearly Tolkien's, it is not at all clear that this was a tale he would ever have published in this form - and had he done so, it would not have read like this.

Tolkien fans will care not a wit though. This is still a wonderfully imagined tale based on some folk literature that the author acknowledges. It reads like an epic tragedy - and that is exactly what it is, but set in the mythology that Tolkien was creating for his Middle Earth.

Set 6,500 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, this book provides some wonderful insights and background material - and it is an essential book for Tolkien completists.

But that will be the only group who should read this. It is not an entry point into the Lord of the Rings. It is not the book you would buy first - it is the one you would buy last after reading the others.

read as a standalone story I feel it is stilted, unpolished, long and pondering on places and not by any means the best example of Tolkien's work. Still, for its imagination, background material, and the very different character of story which - being based on actual mythologies from several cultures - is intellectually stimulating, I feel I can in good conscience give it three or four stars.

#151 Rewind - Terry England

This book had an interesting concept - Aliens make contact with humans and land on Earth and after some information exchange and broadly friendly relations, they depart - but before they do, they take 17 visitors to their space ship and do something to their bodies to revert them to 9 year old children. The book then looks at the can of worms this opens whilst trying to untangle the mystery as to why this was done to these people.

Unfortunately the book missed the mark in so many ways. It is Science Fiction, and there is a hint in that word "fiction" that tells us that this is just a story! Thus the story concept is not a problem here, but I very much disliked what the writer did with the concept, because events led from the preposterous to the nonsensical.

For instance, when the world comes ti understand what has happened to these 17 adults, a legal judgement is passed down that because these people look like children they must now be treated like children. Thus their property ends up being confiscated, and they must be adopted by suitable responsible adults.

Fiction this may be, but we need a lot more convincing that any court would make such a nonsensical ruling. There are people lucky enough to look younger than they are. I knew someone who, at the age of 20 looked like she was 12. On vacation in Ireland she was asked why she wasn't in school and had to produce a passport to prove her age! But such a person is clearly considered an adult in law. So to would be a 43 year old who has been abducted by aliens and given a younger body, but remains mentally a 43 year old. No court would rule differently - and if they did then they would be censured for failing to provide an education to these "kids" some of whom are college professors!

And after the ruling everyone takes it meekly. There is no hint or thought of an appeal until the gay member of the group is told he can no longer be in the custody of a gay man!

So counting to 20, and swallowing one's disbelief at this very odd turn of events, we read on. The author tries to write some kind of criticism of religion in this book. I am not sure exactly what he was criticising though as I could not recognise any church group here. It appeared strongly that the writer's familiarity with religion did not extend beyond flicking through American religious TV channels, and thus when we had religious speakers speaking they did not *sound* like religious people. When they were berated on TV the scene was phony and when a Christmas day service descended into the hysterical murder of two "children" I was simply left bewildered. What was the author actually trying to say here?

The CNN commentary was also grating. I would have suggested that the author does not understand journalism either - except that the biography tells me he is a professional journalist. Maybe US journalism is just different from its British counterpart, but all the same I felt the commentary lacked something.

All in all this book was an interesting concept, very poorly done.

Message edited by its author, Aug 1, 2009, 6:51am.

#152 The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien (re-read)

This is the book that started an industry. Written for children, it is a wonderful piece of magical fiction that was loved by children and adults alike from the 1930s onwards. When Tolkien eventually wrote the more mature "Lord of the Rings" story, he went back and changed some parts of the Hobbit to tie in more closely with that story - and it was this revised version that I read.

But this book works well on its own. Despite being written a long time ago now, it still reads well. It is exciting, hugely imaginative and with nearly all the classic story elements that make a good tale.

Hobbits are a people who keep themselves to themselves, so a company of dwarves are confused as to why the wizard, Gandalf, chooses one Bilbo Baggins to be the company "burglar" in their quest to find and defeat the dragon Smaug. But before long Bilbo proves his worth.

The final part of the book is amusing. I won't detail it to avoid spoilers - but it wraps up the grand adventure very nicely.

The Hobbit is Tolkien's most accessible work. Many people skip it and go straight to "The Lord of the Rings", but I think this is a mistake. The book was clearly written for children, but that should not put off older readers - there is plenty to enjoy in this book.

#152 The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien (re-read)

This is the book that started an industry. Written for children, it is a wonderful piece of magical fiction that was loved by children and adults alike from the 1930s onwards. When Tolkien eventually wrote the more mature "Lord of the Rings" story, he went back and changed some parts of the Hobbit to tie in more closely with that story - and it was this revised version that I read.

But this book works well on its own. Despite being written a long time ago now, it still reads well. It is exciting, hugely imaginative and with nearly all the classic story elements that make a good tale.

Hobbits are a people who keep themselves to themselves, so a company of dwarves are confused as to why the wizard, Gandalf, chooses one Bilbo Baggins to be the company "burglar" in their quest to find and defeat the dragon Smaug. But before long Bilbo proves his worth.

The final part of the book is amusing. I won't detail it to avoid spoilers - but it wraps up the grand adventure very nicely.

The Hobbit is Tolkien's most accessible work. Many people skip it and go straight to "The Lord of the Rings", but I think this is a mistake. The book was clearly written for children, but that should not put off older readers - there is plenty to enjoy in this book.

#153 Middlemarch - George Eliot

This story is somewhat off my usual fayre. Ostensibly it is a romance story, or rather three romance stories that are intertwined. As such it is a book I never before bothered to read as I would not want my cool macho image to be dented by the sight of me flicking through a romance! But I managed to get a copy for my e-reader from "Manybooks" and thus read it in secret!

And I am very glad I did so. Of course, this is a classic so the judgement of history is already there as to the worth of this book, and nothing I add here can change that. Without a doubt this is a book that can be read and enjoyed by many many people. What I can add to this is that it can also be enjoyed by people who do not go in for icky romances! And the reason I can say that is that the real strength of this story does not lie in the romances themselves, but in the wonderful observation ad depiction of life in the 1830s of rural England.

From the opening pages where you have people namedropping Wilberforce and other such luminaries in their social circles, you are drawn into experiencing life amongst the tight Victorian social circles. You see how people wish to better not just themselves but others, but are often frustrated by the cages of convention. You see characters reform themselves, and others ruin themselves. You see people who are not evil and yet do evil deeds for human reasons. You see a mirror on the souls of the characters and ultimately ourselves as readers.

George Eliot's characterisations are wonderful. Her writing is still accessible to the modern reader, and whilst she makes some use of techniques where the narrator knows all and can moralise on the reader's behalf - something you would not find in a modern work - these techniques do not wholly detract from the work, and were - of course - quite common in Victorian fiction. One plot element also reminded me of Dickens in the unfolding coincidences in the background of two characters. But whilst the work is therefore clearly Victorian, it remains very readable. The auction scene and some other scenes were very funny, and as you recognise the types of characters being portrayed in real people - past and present - you will be amused by this work.

So if, like me, you don't do romances - don't skip this work. It is well worth reading.

#154 Josef Jaeger - Jere M. Fishback

I picked this up in the Fictionwise ebook shop when I was reading The Book Thief. It was listed under "young adult" so I thought I was safe with this book, but young adult is definitely the wrong listing for this book. This is very much an adult work.

Josef Jaeger lives with his mother in Bavaria, but when she dies he is shipped off to his notorious uncle, Ernst Roehm. He finds himself close to the nazi hierarchy, and he is put forward for a role in a forthcoming movie, "Quex" by Joseph Goebels. One thing leads to another and he discovers that he is a homosexual like his uncle and in love with a Jewish boy!

On the plus side, this book has some very good research behind it. The movie in question actually exists (you can see clips on youtube), and the writer has tried hard to set the story faithfully within the historical circumstances of the time. When there is talk of politics, the issues discussed are the issues of that time in 1933. The writing is also good.

But I did not like this book for several reasons. For one thing, I think the writer fails to appreciate how people actually felt about politics at that time. He makes Hitler so Charismatic that Josef practically swoons in his presence. That charisma, I suppose, is meant to show us how Hitler attracted such a large following. This despite the fact that all the major characters seem to be very friendly with Jews, and there are no signs of grass roots intolerance. The anti semitism is portrayed as Hitler's fixation alone.

We don't see any of the tensions and deep feeling that Hitler actually played off. Instead all characters just seem to express a lack of interest in politics, and in that way their hands are washed and their characters left unsullied. These are not the gritty realistic people of "The Book Thief". These are cardboard cut out people with no complicity in the rising tide of nazi-ism.

My next problem is the sexual subject matter. Thinking this was a young adult book, I was rather shocked at the very explicit and repeated sexual references and scenes. But had the book been categorised correctly as adult fiction, maybe I could have been less surprised (although I almost certainly would not have bought it).

Nevertheless Josef Jaeger just did not act like a 13 year old boy. Rather he acted in the way that some 30 something men wish they had acted as a boy. I will not mention my explicit disagreement here because it all feels rather sordid and I would have to repeat graphic images to do so, but it was deeply un-natural. Moreso was the way that everyone - including devout Jewish parents of another boy - could be so accepting of the homosexuality. "We always knew David was different" is the explanation for why they are happy for two boys (one a Jew, the other the nephew of a Nazi) to have homosexual relations in pre-war Germany - where, of course, such relations were considered immoral and illegal. The only person to have any objection is the nasty SS man at the end - and he is a cardboard cut-out hate figure. Again, the whole thing was deeply unnatural, and not a little disturbing.

A last but smaller gripe was the language of the book. The writing was very American - but I decided to let that go as merely the idiolect of the author, except for where he tried to spice it up by occasionally inserting German words like "verboten" where he was saying something was "forbidden". If he wanted a German sounding atmosphere then he needed to work much harder on all the references to dating and short pants and moms and such like. If he wanted a natural read, then use English words except for street names or other such names.

I really cannot recommend this book at all. It is not the best treatment of the period in question. It is not a book that questions attitudes or engenders tolerance because of the way it simply avoids the big issues, and the lack of depth in the characterisations. It may be enjoyed by people who like to read about faux 13 year old sexual adventures, but for me it is not a book I am proud to have read.

Message edited by its author, Aug 5, 2009, 4:40am.

#155 Legacy of Blood - Michael Ford

Legacy of Blood picks up from exactly where the last book left off. Lysander returns home victorious, but grieving at the loss of his grandfather but almost immediately news comes from the Spartan colony of Taras (modern day Taranto in southern Italy). The colony has been over-run by the enslaved population and foreign insurgents. Meanwhile old prejudices and power politics are at work, and the Spartan council is convinced to send Lysander's barracks back into action as the Spartan response to the rebellion.

This series continues to live up to its promise - packed with historical details and a plot that races along, making it ideal for its intended audience, and a very good read for anyone of any age. Lysander must come to terms with his own identity in this book, and there are still issues of prejudice and loyalty and enmity to deal with.

A wonderful series.

Message edited by its author, Aug 5, 2009, 4:54am.

#156 Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity - Aliyah Marr

I obtained this book in ebook format as part of the Librarything member give away. It is my first win under the member give away or early reviewers scheme, so I was very pleased to receive it.

The book is all about developing your creative potential. It is not a manual on how to paint or write or make music, but rather on how to think creatively. The text is full of small exercises and tips that can be used to stimulate creativity and for self improvement, and all of these are handily brought together at the end of the book also in an appendix.

The writing style of the book is fluid and easy going. The author clearly can write well. It would make a very helpful self help guide for stimulating creativity.

However I did not like everything about this book, and my objections will centre around what the book would consider my "left brain" thinking. That term is at the heart of my problem with the book though. The title is expounded within. "Parallel mind" is all about our right brain (creative) and left brain (rational) tension. The writer quotes Richard Bergland's 1985 writing "Modern brain scientists now know that
your left-brain is your verbal and rational brain; … Your right brain is your nonverbal and intuitive
brain". However, brain scientists who are a bit more modern again now understand that the brain hemispheres are much more co-dependent than this. the author recognises new scholarship when she writes:

"Although there is new scientific evidence that functions such as language are not the sole province of just one hemisphere, for the purposes of this book I will stick with the broader classifications of brain functions: the left as the logical and linear brain, and the right as the creative, intuitive brain. "

But this made me wonder what the point of the terms really are? If, as we now know, rational thought uses right and left brain co-dependently, as does creative thought, then "right brain" is divorced from any meaning in science and becomes just a synonym of "creative" and "left brain" is a synonym of "rational". And in fact the point is well made in the book that creative people use all their brain. They are rational AND creative.

So when the book develops this analogy of parallel minds with: ""No matter what you think may be happening, you are always thinking with both brains. In computer lingo, this is called “parallel processing”"

I have to disagree. The two brain hemispheres are not two distinct cores in a multiprocessor system - instead the brain is a marvelous and intricately interconnected system where different brain areas have different functions but they all work together to make something coherent. The attempt to break the mind into just two parallel parts - rational and intuitive/creative is, in my opinion illegitimate (but as a "left brainer" I would say that !)

There is a lot of appeal to science in this book. Only a little of it is footnoted. Statements like "It is theorized in the scientific community that the normal life span of humans should be at least 120 years." or "Science has discovered that the brain cannot tell a fantasy from a sensory perception. This is because everything in the brain is merely a thought. " may well be important and true observations, but they are asserted without footnotes so it is hard to check their veracity.

This would be less of a problem if there were not some glaring errors in fact in a few places (less important places, but the problem is that if I know the author has been in error on X that I know about than how can I trust she is correct on Y that I do not know about?)

Some of these gaffes were the assertion that Columbus showed his creative genius by proving the world was round despite everyone else who said it was flat. In fact the dispute was not at all about the shape of the earth - that had been settled about 1800 years earlier by Eratosthenes, but the issue was about the circumference of the earth, that Eratosthenes had measured. Columbus believed Ptolemy's estimate of circumference that was much less accurate than Eratosthenes, and thought it would be quicker to sail west to India. Had he not bumped into America on the way he would have died on the very considerably longer westward passage. But Columbus was more lucky than right. (The myth that Columbus proved the earth was round was invented by a French atheist - Antoine-Jean Letronne (1787-1848), who seems to have wanted to discredit the church).

A second gaffe was:

"when the hard drives of two (or more) computers work in tandem to execute a task at double speed."

No, parallel processing is where 2 or more processors or cores are acting upon instructions of 2 or more processes or computational threads at the same time. Hard drives are a type of memory - they do not "process" anything.

But neither of these gaffes is major. They did not ruin the book. For me they instead ensured my critical thinking skills were engaged - asking, whenever facts were presented, "is this actually right"?

Ultimately it does not matter if not all the information is right because the book still contains some very interesting exercises to try. The book is about creativity and not knowledge, and for anyone wanting ideas to stimulate their creativity, there are plenty in this work.

So ultimately, a very good book for aspiring "right brainers", but unrepentant "left brainers" may have a few problems with it!

#157 The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper (re-read)

The Dark is Rising is the perfect children's book. It is one of those books you want to start reading over again as soon as you put it down. It well deserved to win the Newbery medal. Susan Cooper intertwines just enough hints of real history and myths and legends to invent a whole new mythology in a classic fight of good against evil.

Will Stanton contemplates his 11th birthday, just an ordinary boy in an ordinary family - other than that there are a lot of children in it. But with his birthday comes the knowledge that he is not ordinary at all. In fact he is one of the race of "Old Ones" - not quite human at all. The last of the Old Ones, he has a special task to undertake and standing against him are the forces of the dark who will do anything to frustrate his plans and to destroy him.

This is an excellent book that takes Susan Cooper's earlier "Over Sea and Under Stone" and turns it into part of a fascinating and imaginative series that should be on any good reading list.

The movie, on the other hand, will be a great disappointment to anyone who loves these books. It loses absolutely everything that makes this series a classic.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2009, 6:23pm.

#158 Switchers - Kate Thompson

Not particularly impressed with this one. A longer review is pending though.

Switchers is a book about a girl who has the ability to change into the form of any animal - living or imagined. She keeps her gift secret until the day that she meets a boy who tells her he knows her secret. Not just that, but he is a switcher too.

Feeling the call of some destiny, she runs away with the boy and they meet a batty old woman living alone in an old farm house. She too, it seems, was a switcher - but as everyone loses the ability to switch on their 15th birthday, she can no longer perform this feat.

Meanwhile curious and uncommon cold weather threatens the world, and the US military discover something unusual in the arctic.

All in all, the concept here is appealing - children with special abilities usually makes for a good tale. Unfortunately this was not one such tale. Older readers will find the concept to be poorly thought through, the characters are wooden (except Lizzie, the old woman - but even she is a little stereotyped). The tie in with a threat to the world is all very well but it it is presented in a way that must surely only appeal to younger readers. There is very little tension, and the story is very light.

But I would hesitate to give the book to the 7+ age group that I think would enjoy the story because it seems to be trying for an older readership. Some of the language is a little strong (event hough one word is "bleeped" out), and I can't imagine my 8 year old daughter really getting into these characters. All in all, there are books I think she would enjoy more so this one will probably go straight to the attic.

#159 The Old Testament of The Bible (re-read)

I have been reading this concurrently with other works for months. But the question I asked myself was how I should present it in my 250 book challenge. The Bible is about 4 times the length of "Atlas Shrugged", or nearly 3 times the length of War and Peace. Should I read the whole thing and then enter it as one book? or should I enter it one book at a time and thus rack up 66 books on completion!

I am sure no one would mind either way - it's my challenge after all, so I can interpret how to be challenged! But the solution I chose was to enter it as two (very long) books "Old Testament" and "New Testament". That way I don't rack up a book for reading 1 chapter of Philemon and such like, but there is a definite distinction between testaments in that I have on my shelf a Hebrew old testament and in another volume a Greek New Testament (and an English one and Welsh one too). So I feel justified in counting myself as having finished one book on turning the last page on Malachi.

Most people say not to read the Bible through sequentially start to finish - and I have never done that before (although I have read it all before). I have to say it was actually quite an interesting experience because I felt a definite sense of narrative progression as I did so, and it allowed me to experience a sense of the voice of the narrative as I progressed, which has - I think - given me some insights into the structure of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament will be the longest book I read this year I am certain.

I think footnotes and the double columns tend to inflate the page count of the average bible; I read the KJV last year but printed as a conventional book and the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament only combined for 1800 pages or so. Although, I'm sure you pick up a few hundred pages if you're reading the Apocrypha as well.

Good point but I was reading on my e-reader, which allows a like for like comparison as it calculates page counts based on the actual number of characters in the text. By this measure the whole bible is a little over 4000 page turns compared to 1500 for war and peace and 1100 (I think it was) for Atlas Shrugged.

The actual number of page turns varies slightly depending on how densely the text is set out on a page. I noticed that Michael Crichton books which are dialogue heavy, tend to have more page turns than the e-reader thinks because there is less text to a page, even at the same font size.

Well, now I'm in investigation mode. Obviously it varies by translation but according to the interweb the 'KJV' has a word count of 788,280 words in comparison to 645,000 words in 'Atlas Shrugged' while English translations of 'War and Peace' come in at around 560,000 words (further examples: 'Clarissa' clocks in at 969,000 and 'À la recherche du temps perdu' has 1.5 million words.) I suspect the e-reader in just picking up on the 30,000 verse numbers and 1,100 chapter breaks. Still a lot of reading anyway look at it.

Fair enough. In that case I really don't know what the e-reader counts! Perhaps it incorporates formatting characters or something, which would be much higher in the Bible because of (as you note) all the verse numbers and chapter headings.

However according to this site:

http://indefeasible.wordpress.com/2008/0...

Your numbers for Atlas Shrugged are a little high - their number is 561,996 words - just behind War and Peace. I would test this out but I don't have a plain text version of the book to work with.

According to:

http://www.trivia-library.com/a/bible-nu...

The KJV word count for the Old Testament only still exceeds either of these books - but not by much, at 593,493 words, so it is still the longest book I will read this year ... just :)

Thanks anyway for pointing that out though.

#160 Ranger's Apprentice

This is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure for young adults.

Will has just turned 15 and must be apprenticed to one of the professions in this medieval fantasy land (which resembles medieval Europe in many respects). Too small to be the warrior he dreams of being, he is passed over for other professions - but then Halt the ranger agrees to take him on, recognising rare qualities in the boy.

Meanwhile there is an ongoing feud between Will and another boy, Horace. Unlike Will, Horace is accepted into battle school. Horace taunts Will and Will always responds, never quite biting back the last word uin an argument.

The plot moves at a pace, and there are many of the classic themes that make a good story in this tale, including the dry wit of Halt the ranger, which will have the reader grinning even if the ranger apparently never does.

I enjoyed this book, and I think the intended young adult audience will love it. It is much better than Eragon, for instance - and being a lighter read, it will engage young people in reading more easily.

As an adult reader I recognised many themes and plot ideas that have been used in other works. But they are used and re-used because they make for a good story - and the writer uses them deftly in this book.

So ultimately not the most original book I have read, but still a very good one for adult and young adult readers alike. A very good book to buy young people you cannot get reading longer works.

#161 A Voyage Round the World - William Henry Giles Kingston

I found this in my Oxfam bookstore. Long ago, as a child, I read "Voyage of the Dainty" by the same author - a hand me down from my grandfather who was vaguely related to the author. But this is the first time I have managed to find another of his many books since then. The author was a prolific chidlren's writer in the late Victorian era. His works have not endured, and they are rightly not considered "classics". But that dod not mean this was not a very interesting read.

The book is about a boy who is taken on a sailing voyage around the World by his father. The ship they sail on must have been the most pious one in the British Isles, judging by the way the captain and crew conduct themselves.

The book is highly didactic. On the voyage across the atlantic we are allowed to listen in on lectures on trade winds, ocean currents, the gulf stream, the Sargasso sea and such like. There is a good deal of meteorological explanation, which is not surprising as the writer was brother to George Kingston, the father of Canadian meteorology.

We also have some wonderful descriptions of all the places that are visited by the ship. We learn why the British settled the Falklan Islands, what life was like in Chile at that time (allegedly) and such like. We see the effects of the California gold rush and tour the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), with a wonderful spelling of some of the island names. And it goes on - but it takes 250 pages to get to any great adventure (when the ship is taken by pirates). There are many smaller adventures first of course, including a volcanic eruption (of course! that always happens when you visit Hawaii).

All in all this book is wonderful - not because of its storyline, nor because of its characterisations (are there any? I am not sure!) but because of what it represents: an archetypal late victorian Boy's Own adventure.

It is full of cultural assumptions and references that are both amusing and enlightening on the victorian mind set. It is not a particularly "politically correct" book, but on the other hand it is clearly attempting to foster knowledge, understanding and compassion in the minds of its readers. It will also do a great deal to educate anyone interested in the period about the world at that time. And occasionally it will simply amuse (I grinned at the aprobation given to Sandwich islands for cooling themselves when they have a fever - thus "closing their pores and hastening their deaths").

All in all a worthwhile read should you happen to find a copy, although unlikely ever to be republished.

#162 The Wind Singer - William Nicholson

I had a busy weekend, and not so much reading time so I only completed one book - although started two others. This was the book.

Kestrel hath and her Brother, Bowman, are twins in the city of Aramanth in a wonderfully imagined world full of magic and surprises. But their world is not the perfect place it once was, for the Wind Singer that overlooks their city has been broken for many years, and in the mean time the city has been overtaken by a rigidly enforced regime that ensures everyone is put to work in the place best suited to their skills and effort.

From the age of 2, children are educated and examined repeatedly, and their scores are added to the scores of their parents who also undertake regular examinations. The scores then calculate their priveleges, where they may live and what colour clothing they may wear.

But the Hath family think differently to other people, and they see that the system - rather than achieving a wonderful egalitarian society - actually binds them and imprisons them. And when Kestrel one day snaps in a school lesson, she awakes a chain of events that bring down the wrath of the chief examiner and set in motion something much larger and more dangerous than anyone would have believed possible.

I first looked at this book when it was newly published. I picked it up to buy it, but it was on one of those "3 for 2" displays where you can get 3 books for the price of two. As I could not find 3 books I wanted I resented paying full price for it and put it back! (Waterstones take note - you would sell me more books just by discounting them a little instead!)

It is a pity it took me so long to actually buy this book, becauise it is excellent. I was expecting a good fantasy story, but the story I read exceeded my expectations on two counts:

1) The characterisations were very well done, and often very amusing. The conversation Bowman had with an official as Kestrel climbed the Wind Singer had me laughing out loud. I instantly fell in love with the Hath family. Not that they were a perfect family, and you see their warts and all - particularly as the discover friendship in an unlikely place.

2) The world that Aramanth sits in is a richly imagined but very fresh and non stereotyped world. I get very fed up with fantasy books that set themselves in a kind of medieval world, just because that is how Tolkien did it. But this is not one of those books. The world described here shows the ability of the author to imagine something bold and new and very engaging.

The book is written with young adults as an intended audience, but adult readers should enjoy this too - and younger children may well love it too. As a rough guide, I would probably not give it to anyone much younger than 10, or older than 95 (although the latter only because the print might then be a little too small!)

All in all this was a richly imagined book with good characters, some good humour and plenty of action as well as things to make the reader pause and consider afterwards - particularly on the nature of freedom.

#163 Empire - Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card has written many excellent books. This is not one of them.

It is clear from the author's Afterword, that the book was contrived to fit with a video game, and that roughly describes the sophistication of this plot which is well below Card's normal standard.

Reuben Malich is a major in the US Army working on secret assignments in Washington. He is joined by captain Bartholomew Coleman (Cole) just as an act of treachery takes a plan he wrote for the president's protection to carry out an assassination on the same. The success of this and other operations triggers a civil war, where members of the American democratic party, still smarting over the appointment of George Bush as president, when Al Gore won the vote - start a civil war.

In his afterword, Card indicates that it was all to easy to conceive of events that would lead to a civil war - but like Shadow of the Hegemon, we see in this book that Card does not really do politics too well. For him, great events can be flawlessly shaped by the outrageous plans of a few. Compare with Tolstoy who says that those few are merely puppets of the greater circumstances, and you see the flaws in this plot laid bare. Frankly the whole plot is preposterous, and lacks the depth and strength of feeling required to make the preposterous plausible.

Could a stable democracy like the USA have another civil war? Certaily it is possible - but not over anything so petty as in this book! Civil wars have to be fomented over a period of time, a sharp division, and a growing sense of outrage that allows people to conceive of actions that are otherwise treasonable. This mistake that Card makes is to think that the differences between American Republicans and American Democrats are large enough for anyone to fight over.

He almost recognises this early in the book, where in a university class discussion, Major Malich makes that very point in a voice we recognises as one of reason. He simply ignores the "conservative v liberal" debate and answers more intelligently. But then card blows it by making the issues something that people really are willing to fight with bullets over. To me there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the American political situation there.

But so what? If it makes an enjoyable plot, what does it matter if the politics in Card's books are so black and white - so simplistic?

But there are other problems with this book too. One annoyance for someone who has probably read all of Card's books, is that he has recycled language, characters and plot elements from other works - and to poor effect. For instance, for me the word "jeesh" now refers to battle school kids - not a mature army combat unit. Ideas such as the double password on the PDA came from the short story "Dogwalker". And it went on!

Someone new to Card though would miss those references, but might still hate this book because the dialogue is so unconvincing. They might hate it because the plot is rather predictable (other than the odd choice to kill off ... well maybe I shouldn't say to avoid spoilers - but anyone reading the book is likely to know what I mean and agree it's an odd choice).

One of the things I have historically liked about Card is the way he focuses his books widely, incorporating foreign languages and cultures. Also the way he makes you think about issues. But in this book his cultural references are right out of an American right wing chat room, and show a remarkable lack of critical thinking!

When I read "European news media tells you what to think. American news media shows you enough so you make your own opinions", I was flabergasted, as should any other european who has numbed their mind watching the news on visits to that country! Not that I have a vested interest in news media, and not that I have any rosy spectacled view of European orgaisations. It just made me think that I was reading some American neo-con and not the Orson Scott Card who I have respected for very many years.

It seems to me that in recent years there has been a marked decline in the quality of Card's output. I suspect that this is an excellent writer with just too many projects with too short deadlines on the go.

Card completists (like me) will read this book whatever I say. Anyone else - avoid this one.

I'm a little behind in posting reviews but I thought I had better start listing the books I have read recently anyway. Reviews will follow shortly.

#164 The Ranger's Apprentice - The Burning Bridge - John Flanagan

#165 Sebastian's Quest - C.A. Jeffries

#166 Compass Murphy - Stephen Potts

#167 The One Percent Doctrine - Ron Suskind

#168 Pasha and the Lost Mountain - Gary Webster

#169 The Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger

#170 Marco's Pendulum - Thom Madley

#164 The Ranger's Apprentice - The Burning Bridge - John Flanagan

In this second of the Ranger's Apprentice books, young Will and Horace accompany the ranger Gilan on an embassy to the king of the Celts of Celtica. However, trouble is never far away and the Ranger's young apprentice and his friends soon find themselves playing a vital part in preventing a devastating defeat in battle and saving a King's daughter.

These books are fast moved, action packed and frequently laced with a subtle humour. There is nothing truly new about them, and will perhaps not satisfy adult readers as deeply as more richly imagined works - but they wil be ideal for their intended young adult audience, being books that draw a reader in and hold their interest throughout.

Thoroughly recommended for ages 10-15, and not bad for readers of fantasy in general.

#165 Sebastian's Quest - C.A. Jeffries

A richly imagined children's adventure in which Sebastian moves to a new home where the bathroom can transport you back in time and to exotic places. The first time Sebastian closes the bathroom door he finds the floor has turned to sand and the room is now a beach. He digs down into the sand, but does not fall through the ceiling into the room below!

And that is only where the strange things start. There is part mystery, part adventure with the wonderful idea of a bathroom that thinks it is a kind of inverted TARDIS.

Not a book for young adults and adults, but a great one for primary school children (up to the age of 10 or 11).

#166 Compass Murphy - Stephen Potts

This was a fantastic book about a boy whose father goes missing - presumed beset in the frozen waters around Greenland on a whaling trip, and his son's determination to find him. He stows away on another whaling ship, makes a dangerous enemy, and learns that he has an amazing ability. Over time he overcomes adversity and adventure, all in the quest for the father he loves.

This book has some excellent qualities. the writing is engrossing and vivid. You feel like you are on board the ship with young Murphy, and you want to be there.

Whaling these days is very much unacceptable, so a stroy about whalers seems like an odd choice, but the reader is swept up into the story all the same. There is no silly modern informed sentimentality - just the hard facts of a bygone existence. And yet neither is the book cold and heartless. Indeed the book is very poignant in a number of places, and it would be a hard reader who did not blink away the occasional tear as they read this book.

My prediction is that any reader will learn a lot from this book - be it history or friendship or love. There is a lot to be gained from reading this first class work.

#167 The One Percent Doctrine - Ron Suskind

This book is not so much an eye opener, as for most of the world it was always clear that the 11th September attacks were just used as a pretext to prosecute a war against Iraq that was never justified by the events. However it was a clear vindication of all that many many people were saying, based on testimony from some very well placed sources. As such this was a good piece of journalism in book form.

From the opening pages it was clear that Suskind was going to take no prisoners. He tells us that Bush was never much of a reader (despite the efforts to project an image that he was), and that he based his decisions on gut reactions based on face to face meetings.

The genius of Suskind is that he writes in a way that shows he is not just twisting a knife in the dying corpse of a discredited administration. In fact he makes a good case for Bush's strengths in his use of gut feeling - something that served him well over the years. Yes, the author is fairly clear that Cheney was really pulling the strings in the US administration (with the help of Rumsfeld et al.), but we see Bush fighting to assert his own authority, and his strengths and weaknesses laid bare.

The result is, of course, a fairly damning indictment on men who followed an obsession against the evidence, leading America into what we can all now see to be the biggest American foreign policy disaster ever. Nevertheless it is written in a way that is not anti American. It is well informed, compassionate and articulately written.

My biggest problem with the book though was the slight;y piecemeal way it is laid out. The timeline jumps forward and back a little. As this is essentially a narrative history based on primary sources, I would have liked it to be laid out in a slightly more logical and chronological order. But that is not a reason not to read this book. In fact this book or something like it should be used in all future courses on American history!

#168 Pasha and the Lost Mountain - Gary Webster

This is a good children's work that I got as a free PDF under the LibraryThing member giveaway programme.

Dogs with magical powers, and two children with half the globe between them that share them. Dangerous adventures that last minutes in the real world but much longer in the magical alternate reality - all the makings are here of a wonderful young children's story.

Adults will tire of some of the concepts, or perhaps be irritated by the rather stereotypical English family, complete with tweed jackets! But kids probably will not care at all and could love this book.

I can't bring myself to write any more reviews just yet, so still awaiting reviews:

#169 The Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger

#170 Marco's Pendulum - Thom Madley

And now also:

#171 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

#172 Marco and the Blade of Night - Thom Madley

#169 The Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger

This story is a classic, and it is not hard to see why so many people have enjoyed it. Following a very short period in the life of Holden Caulfield, an adolescent full of teenage angst, in the process of dropping out from society - this book is poignant, well written and really gets into the mind of the protaganist.

This is an authentic voice doing something for the first time that has now been much repeated. It deserves its classic status because of what it does. It speaks of that teenage angst at a time when teenagers were just being "invented". It speaks into a changing culture, and it has been much studied and much copied in the following years.

But whilst recognising this was a seminal work, and one that thoroughly deserves its fame, I have to confess that as a reader I was less than fully engrossed in it.

Holden Caulfield is a wonderful protaganist because he is so human. He is dropping out but he is not a nasty character. His love for his sister in particular was a powerful antidote to a kind of dark nihilism that might otherwise threaten the work.

Nevertheless I did not really enjoy reading about this snippet of his life. There was no grand story here - the book is really all about the character and viewpoint. Many people will love that, but for me it did not click. That is perhaps a reflection on my own tastes though, rather than this work.

So whilst I will score this at between 3 and 4 stars, your mileage may vary. It is one of those books that the reader will probably enjoy more, the more they have to bring to it.

Marco's Pendulum - Thom Madley

The first chapter of this book was perfect! It was one of those chapters that makes you want to pick the book up and read the whole thing through. The writing was easy going, funny and with thiswonderful initial concept that was thoroughly engrossing. I could not wait to read my way into the book.

And for a while the book really lived up to its promise. However, further in I found myself getting annoyed at a couple of things and about half way through I re-evaluated my opinion of the book. It was good. Indeed it was very good. It just was not the first rate, one of a kind excellent that I was expecting from that wonderful first chapter.

Marco's parents are gettin divorced. What is more they are both busy with their careers, so he is dumped on his reluctant father for the summer holidays who almost immediately palms the boy off on his grandparents in Glastonbury whom he has never met. But his grandparents are far from ordinary, as is Glastonbury.

The author describes Glastonbury perfectly and hilariously. Anyone who has been there will read this book with a wry grin.

On the downside, there is a satanist theme in the book - which whilts not altogether out of place (I can think of many much more disturbing books), it does mean I would not personally give it to younger children. The depiction of the curate at Glastonbury also owes rather too much to a certain stereotype. There was plenty of scope for a more complex characterisation there, but instead we had a rather cardboard-cut out stereotype that does not actually fit with any reality I have known. The "theology" being propounded in the book is rather befuddled too.

The stroy line itself is good. Just about worthy of five stars I think, but not so good that this will be an all time favourite of mine.

All in all a good book for young adult readers, but not one I would give to younger children. Perhaps best used as a basis of a fuller discussion about the themes.

#171 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

I have been reading this for the group read, but this month I just kept reading through to the end. Tolstoy's works are famously long, but they are also very interesting - and this book surprised me with its Christian message. Ostensibly following Anna Karenina through the death of her marriage, a doomed love affair and her eventual demise, this book could equally be named for Levin, a character that seems to be based largely on Tolstoy. In Levin we see a struggle to lead a life of compasion and quiet morality informed by his Christian faith, whilst in Anna we see the terrible consequences hypocrisy in society as it publically condemns her love affair but privately winks at it.

And whilst we feel for Anna and her husband and her lover, and her son - we see greater aprobation for the chattering classes of the hypocritical society. This is a wonderful work because it brings out so much that is hidden beneath a veneer of respectability. It is also wonderful for its characterisations - especially of a certain hunting dog!

All in all I was very glad I read this book. It has led me to understand Tolstoy's Christian Anarchism better too, and the ideas in the book are engaging, challenging, forward thinking for their time and often just so right!

#172 Marco and the Blade of Night - Thom Madley

The second book following the adventures of Marco in new age Glastonbury. In this book the ordinary people of Glastonbury (not the "Avalonians") start to see visions. Avalonians are depressed that for all their new age rituals they see none. The "Glastis" are worried because they don't believe in that stuff! And then the curate finds an ancient sword - one that could date all the way back to the iron age.

Once again Marco is swept up into a powerful adventure where all he has is friendship to bring him through.

As for the first book, this is a good story for young adult readers. As with the first book, the themes of satanism as well as the way characters are stereotyped would prevent me from recommending this book to younger children. There was also no repeat of the wonderful start of the first book. This was good young adult fiction, but falling short of its potential.

A theme of reconciliation at the end good perhaps have been worked a little harder as I felt I should have been moved, but was not.

But still a good read for young adult readers. A book that almost demands a later discussion of its themes.

#173 The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling

Most people will be familiar with this story, and will know why it is a classic. On the other hand, they may have not read the original version with the additional tales and poetry. It was worth reading these, even though the story of Mowgli is certainly the best known story for a good reason! The other tales though show the versatility of the author, and are engaging in their own way.

#174 Greenwitch - Susan Cooper

This is a re-read for a LibraryThing group read. As discussion of the group read starts on Wednesday, I will wait until then to write a long review - but in short, I have always loved this book. It is not the best of the series, but as a child there were things here that made me almost ache!

#174 Greenwitch - Susan Cooper

Third in "The Dark is Rising" series, this book sees the meeting up of the three children from "Over Sea and Under Stone" with Will Stanton from "The Dark is Rising".

The grail that the children found in a cave in Trewissick, South Cornwall, has been stolen by an agent of the Dark, and Merriman enlists the help of the Drew children once again. Only this time the children are surprised and shocked when Merriman arrives with another boy - Will Stanton. That is surely going to be a problem, they think.

Susan Cooper writes this so well. The line between super human Old One and 11 year old boy is so perfectly walked. Each character develops nicely in this book, but especially Jane.

I loved this book as a child. The interactions between families and friends, and the stumbling move from antipathy to friendship between the Drew children and Will Stanton all stand out, along with flashes of humour and an exciting and mysterious tale, cunningly written.

As an adult reader this remains an important and enjoyable book in probably my all time favourite series. Definitely strongly recommended.

#175 Bad Science - Ben Goldacre

This is a wonderful, angry, ranty book that educates and entertains, and ultimately leaves you sad that the world is the way it is, and wanting to change it.

I have read some good works on critical thinking and on science, and this book is right up there with the best of them. Ben Goldacre works in the NHS and the science he is talking about is unashamedly the science of healthcare - but the points he makes about understanding scientific reporting and spotting quackery applies in other fields too.

Indeed it was very refreshing to read a book attacking bad science, and defending reason that focussed on such real world and downright useful subjects as how to answer someone who thinks MMR jabs cause autism, or who thinks eating spinach will oxygenate your blood.

I thought I was usually reasonably good at spotting bad science, but putting the book down and picking up today's paper I was immediately struck by two stories I would normally have quicky forgotten, and was left suspecting that both are very inaccurately reported.

Bad science is all around us, and in this book you can sharpen your skills at spotting and refuting bad arguments. The only people who will hate this book are people who think that "there are more things in heaven and earth..." and thus we should never discount homeopathy (or crystals, or tarot or whatever) just in case they work by some mechanism we do not know.

(And the message of the book to those people is - fair enough. But there is simply no evidence that the *do* work at all).

The only down sides of this book are the writing style. It is open and amusing, but sometimes some people might feel it grating a little. I didn't - I liked it, but I would understand if others felt differently.

Moreover, there writing was sometimes a tad opaque. I found myself re-reading some paragraphs because the book was so chatty that sometimes the author repeated himself and at other times he seemd to assume his point was clear before he had quite finished writing it. It is a minor criticism, because for the most part the author has done an admirable job of making science and the scientific method clear and understandable.

One last criticism - had I been explaining the material in this book, I would have covered much sooner the issues of prabability and chance, and the point that even where there is no effect to be discovered, 1 in 20 experiments attempting to show the effect (or rather, to disprove there is no effect) will come up with positive results merely by chance.

He does mention this in a very good chapter on statistics. It is just that it was relevant earlier, and even when mentioned it is not a point he labours.

Again a very minor criticism for a very good, readable and enjoyable work that is thoroughly recommended.

#176 Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

I added this book to my Amazon wishlist after I saw what Roni n cats had written about it - way back in April. I got round to actually buying it a few weeks ago and I read it yesterday. Curiously I found it being heavily promoted in Borders of Swansea on Wednesday! Maybe I was just tuned in to it though.

This is a good fun read. A story written in the form of a middle school boy's diary (or journal as he would prefer it to be known) complete with his own cartoons which are a perfect and hilarious counterpoint to his authentic pre-teen voice, that says so much by leaving out so much!

There are various cultural references that a non American reader must interpret - usually with an eye to what we see on movies. I think middle school is like 11-14 or something, but no doubt an American reader of this comment can correct me if I am wrong.

I loved the way this book gets into the head of the boy who writes it though. Things like "The Cheese Touch" or the naming of your racing cars with rude words and such like to put off your opponent are just so reminicent of that age.

What I particularly enjoyed was the way memory and imagination can fill in so many details. The boys in one class end up making a list of rude words they don't want their robot to say. Not only was that a hilarious scene, but I could also imagine being there, and I could imagine all the conversations and hilarity that would surround that list. The description is brief but somehow it brings out so much more.

All in all this is a perfect book for 8-13s or so, and indeed anyone who remembers what it was like to be that age!

#177 Eunoia - Christian Bök

I was lucky to get a copy of the paperback version of this book as a prepublication copy through the member giveaway programme.

Eunoia is an amazing book - it is, to my mind, a book of poems in that the beauty of language is the focus more than the story.

The first five chapters are each dedicated to a vowel (in alphabetical order), and each chapter only contains words containing that voewl and no other. What is more, the author has constrained the stories in other ways and used the majority of all words that he could use in the writing.

After these five chapters there are other random experiments in language, such as the poem written only with the letters in the word "vowels".

I am very glad I read this book. It was an amazing feat of language that took the author 7 years to write (and the only surprise was that he could complete it at all). On the downside it is not an easy read! The constraints of the book make the language hard going. There were words there I had to look up (and I generally don't have that problem).

The mixture of words that in other works would be clearly pretentious with occasional gutter language also felt odd. Particularly in the "u" chapter, I was both impressed and dissapointed that the writer could describe sexual intercourse using just words with the "u" vowel - but imaginations will not run far as to which words he used. That rather sullied the beauty of the book in my opinion.

Hard going it might be, but this was not a long book and it was very much worth the read. Anyone who loves language cannot help but be impressed by what is achieved here.

#178 Tend to Your Garden Within - Shervin Hojat

I received this through the LibraryThing Member giveaway programme. The Author sent me a copy in return for a review (an edited copy of this review will also appear on Amazon). My copy arrived safely in the post with a nice note from the author, who had spent a fair bit on the postage. I was delighted with my first real book won on that programme.

But what is this book? I was enticed by the talk of a spiritual journey - and it certainly was that. Some reviewers have called this a self help book, and - particularly towards the end - it is certainly that too. But ultimately I feel this book is an intensely personal journey of the author, shared with the reader through a series of meditations.

In many ways this reminds me of the great journals of the 17th and 18th centuries - not in terms of how it is written, nor in scope - but in the desire to set down in print a record of one's life journey. As you read this book you travel with the author through a year or more of his life. You experience his grief and see his insights. The meditations on his father are deeply moving, and others - such as the one on forgiveness - are profound.

There is much talk of God, and the reader is left with the sense of a spiritual journey. But fundamentalists of any stripe will be frustrated that there is very little in the way of any kind of theology to disagree with. This is not a polemical book at all. It is a book to encourage self reflection and to just appreciate the author's self reflection.

Personally I do not hold with any of the ideas of shamanism, which form a large part of the latter part of the book (and perhaps suffuse the rest of the work). But ultimately that does not matter much, because the book does not attempt to convince you anything is true - it merely asks you to consider things. Time spent on self reflection is never wasted, so the advice of the book is timeless.

One criticism is the price of this book. Probably not something the author can control, but it is a little high in the UK at least. Probably something to do with importing copies in small numbers.

#179 A War of Gifts - Orson Scott Card

This is little more than a short story really. 128 pages in hardback is somehow being stretched to over 200 pages in the forthcoming paperback version - I can only suppose by adding pictures, big fonts or lots of white space. I read through the book in one sitting yesterday afternoon.

Its not a bad story though. Zeck is raised in an abusive household where his father is some kind of freelance minister of religion who believes he is the only true pure person on earth. Zeck, being a small boy, internalises this philosophy despite his photographic memory and gift for reading people that would look like a savant tendency even in a mature adult.

And then he is taken away to battle school, where his religion is outlawed and where he refuses to co-operate.

The story is about coming of age, and healing of the past and of friendships too. And it is readable - good for anyone who has read all the Ender books. Probably not the place to start for anyone else, as too much of the scenario is undescribed. What and where is battle school? why can the IF steal children? who are the Formics? Who is Ender Wiggin? I think anyone who cannot answer these questions might be a little frustrated by this story. Thus a book for "Ender" series completists only.

The story is also problematic in other ways. Card rattles out these abusive church scenarios too commonly (for anyone who has read a lot of his work). Not that I think he should not do it. People often abuse positions of trust and have inflated opinions of themselves which they prey off, so why should he not write about such things? But I found Zeck's father to be too fantastic. He is too obvious, and I think a character with much more false humility would have been more believable. The line "we are puritans, not fundamentalists" seemed to suggest that there is some kind of fundamentalist orthdoxy that describes that group, which is not true. Moreover they did not sound like puritans.

Likewise these battle school kids are simply too deep! Geniuses they certainly are, but where did they get all that wisdom at the age of 8 or 9? The more I read of this series, the more poorly it reflects on some of the initial concepts - and I think Ender is a project that Card really should lay to rest, and move on to something new.

So in summary, if you want a short and fun read with nothing too deep, and if you already enjoy Ender Wiggin books, and don't mind the fact this one is so short - then you will enjoy this book. Otherwise you might want to move along to something else.

#180 Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal - Emily Rodda

Emily Rodda writes stories that younger children love. Her Deltora Quest series has been read by my daughter and loaned to cousins and friends, all of whom loved it. This book is much in the same vein.

Rowan lives in a land called Rin, but his life is turned upside down when it turns out that his mother is to be called upon to act as the chooser of the next Keeper of The Crystal - a magical crystal that embues knowledge, wisdom and power upon the keeper and keeps the lands safe from dangerous enemies.

The choosing is a dangerous time, for it is known that a failure to choose a new keeper will cause the lands of Maris to fall prey to invaders. The chooser is in great peril and should anything happen to his mother, Rowan is next in line.

Unlike the Deltora Quest books that I have read, this book is not laced with puzzles that the reader can hope to solve - although there is one key puzzle that Rowan must solve, and a nice plot twist at the end.

Children of about 7+ should love this book, but it is not a young adult read.

#181 Dreams from My father - Barack Obama

What a rare privelege it is to read a political autobiography that was clearly actually written by the subject, and is so forthright, honest and readable. There are no doubt other good examples of political biography, but I am not a big reader of the genre and consequently cannot think of one as good as this.

This books greatest advantage is it was written long before Obama had any thought of being elected as president of the United States. Consequently he gives us the kind of reflective account that reveals the true man, without showing signs of editing by political advisers.

Not that this book was written without any focus on future career. The book is reflective, but it is heavily influenced by issues of race and what it means to be a black man in modern America. The reader is left with an impression of a vision that is not spelled out in so many words, but hinted at. You feel that Obama has a hope for a new kind of conversation between races in America - but the book merely brings tensions and issues and hostory to the surface, without being in any way didactic.

Ultimately though this is a personal story of Obama's own self discovery as he comes to terms with who his father was - the absent father he never knew. As he describes the family grave in Kenya, you have to wonder - was there ever a president of the United States befoe whose father's grave was so unaddorned (I suspect this has changed by now, of course - but nevertheless, the point is that you just feel so connected to Obama here).

Elected the first black president of the United States, Obama's place in history is assured - whatever happens now. This book will be an invaluable aid to historians of the future - a real and personal first hand account in the words of the man that history will remember.

Reading the book, and particularly his searching for faith in the churches of Chicago, I felt that maybe he has not yet found what he is looking for. The section closed on an emotional note, describing the sermon on "The Audacity of Hope" - a title he took for his next book. But nowhere did there seem to be any mention of the Christian gospel and how he responded to that personally. That is not a criticism of the book though - it is just something revealing in the work.

All in all this was an excellent book. Off my usual subject matter but well worth reading.

#182 Boy of the Painted Cave - Justen Denzel

This short book follows Tao, the stone age boy with a limp who bucks tradition by daring to wish to be a cave painter (at which he has a real gift) rather than a hunter (at which he is very poor, until he enlists the help of a wolf-dog he befriends - and that just causes more problems).

The book is an enchanting look at the ancient european cave painting hunter-gatherers of some 18,000 years ago. But it is also a book that speaks to anyone anywhere. Sometimes "this is the way it has always been" is just not a good enough answer for doing something the same way now, and Tao learns that those who dare to dream may sometimes be rewarded.

This is a children's book. It is short and sweet and could be read by any child from the age of about 7 up. It lacks the tension of a good young adult title, so teens will perhaps stay away from this book, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Roni n cats posted this in his thread. Here is my answer. The rule is that you answer each question with the title of a book you have read this year, but should not repeat books if possible.

*

Describe yourself:
The Dream Merchant, the Giver, although I like the sound of: the Mystic Rose

How do you feel:
Magyk

Describe where you currently live:
Magic Street
Black Swan Green

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Stonehenge, although I was thinking of saying: Inside Grandad

Your favourite form of transportation:
Fallen Angels

Your best friend is:
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, although it used to be Granny

You and your friends are:
Heroes of the Valley (This was an easy one as I live in Wales :) )

What’s the weather like:

The Dark is Rising

You fear:

Oh so many to choose from. I considered all of:
Einstein's Dreams, Fire from Heaven, Victory !!, Flyte, Twilight, the Catcher in the Rye, Finn's going, a Choke Chain, Tobacco Sticks

But I eventually chose:

God's Politics

What is the best advice you have to give:
A Voyage Around the World (can't make the touchstone work - by W H G Kingston)

Thought for the day:
God is Back

How I would like to die:

Dying to Win, although preferably After Dark

My soul’s present condition:

Deep Storm

#183 Knowledge Management - Carl Frappaolo

This book was smaller than I expected - a pocket size book - which could come in handy, but it meant there was less in it than I had expected. It covers the basic concepts of knowledge management well enough, with some good examples. I did not feel it was an incredibly practical book though, despite its attempts to set out a step by step guide for knowledge management. I felt it did not really explain in a clear and generic manner how to implement and carry through a knowledge management strategy - primarily because the book was too short.

This was also not the most readable guide ever. It was not actually hard going, but the style was not particularly engaging.

The book also comes to a rather abrupt end before churning out a huge and useful glossary and plenty of lists of further reading.

All in all this is a pretty good primer, but further reading will be required.

#184 Coraline - Neil Gaiman

This was a good scary story for children, with plenty of suspense and a well thought through ending. This book reminded me very much of Clive Barker's The Thief of Always, which I remember as one of my favourite reads ever. The writing in this book was perhaps not quite as perfect as I remember Clive Barker's being, but the story was every bit as good.

Coraline is a clever little girl who finds it hard to get her parent's attention. They have recently moved into a shared house, and in that house there is an odd little door that goes nowhere - having been bricked up some years ago. At least - it appears to go nowhere, until the day that Coraline discovers differently.

I would not have (re)discovered Neil Gaiman if Roni had not reviewed "The Graveyard Book", which Gaiman wrote after this one. I am very glad I did. There are a couple of his works that I had read that were lacklustre, but everything I have read recently by this author has been first rate.

Hey, glad it worked out for you!

Have you read any Steven Brust?

Nope, I haven't read any Steven Brust yet. Just looked at one of his novels and the reviews were quite critical of his dialogue. Do you have a recommendation for a good one to start with?

*

Meanwhile I have got behind on my reviews again, but I have completed the following:

#185 Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins. This one was excellent. (And another one I added because Roni had reviewed it)

#186 Blitzcat - Robert Westall. This was a good piece of writing and enjoyable.

#187 Takedown #8 - Rich Wallace. This was pretty naff but might find its niche.

#188 Witch Boy: Blood War - Russell Moon. This one I did not think much of at all.

Fuller reviews to follow when I get time.

Yes, start with Jhereg. If that doesn't grab you, then his series is not for you.

I have Blitzcat in my TBR pile, because of LTers recommending it last year. I'll try to get to it.

You know the sequel to Hunger Games just came out in hardback? I'm resisting it for the moment.

Jhereg now added to my Amazon shopping list. Thanks. And yes I knew anout the equel to Hunger Games. Here is my review:

#185 Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

This is good science fiction - a future dystopian American society filled with inequality and a Capitol that keeps the various districts of the nation's populace in check through, among other things, a deadly televised game in which young people compete against each other, and the last one standing wins fame, glory and honour. The young people chosen for the games are called the "tribute", and although volunteers are allowed, the nature of the games is such that most people are chosen by lot.

But when the lot falls upon the younger sister of Katniss Everdeen, she volunteers to take her sister's place. And so she is pitched headlong into the hunger games which is a cross between reality TV, gladiatorial combat, Aztec games, Mad Max's thunderdome and who knows what else.

The theme is a powerful but dark one. This is a young adult book rather than a children's book and looking at the basic concept, I was not sure I would like this. There is too much potential for a gory kind of horror story. But in fact this book is not that at all. Instead it is a powerful and moving story, which - like all the best science fiction - reflects upon us now as much as it does the future.

There are a number of connections between this future world and ancient Rome, which given the themes seems to be quite deliberate. But all in all this is an original tale and written with a powerful prose that kept me reading almost without a break until I finished the book.

One scene in particular was very moving indeed. I cam away from the story thinking it was a very human book, and one to set me thinking about what it tells us about our society today.

All in all and excellent work, and I will certainly be buying the sequel soon

#186 Blitzcat - Robert Westall

Lord Gort is a cat. Separated from her person, she sets out to find him and in the process meets a number of different people on different situations. Against this backdrop we have a set of short stories, all connected by the cat, and all revealing so much about war time Britain. Westall has researched the events well and describes actual war time events, such as the bombing of Coventry, to create a novel that transports the reader into a bygone era. This is a very good piece of writing, rich in historical detail.

#187 Takedown #8 - Rich Wallace

This is a story about wrestling in middle school. It seems to be one of a series, but it works as a standalone story - and I think I would probably grow bored extremely quickly if the others in the series are on the same theme. Basically this is a story of a boy who joins a wrestling team, finds that its harder than he thinks, perseveres and eventually triumphs. There are no surprises in the story - its almost formulaic. Still there could be readers - especially wrestling enthusiasts - who could enjoy this book. I can't say I was one of these people.

#188 Witch Boy: Blood War - Russell Moon

I bought this as an ebook from Fictionwise, and annoyingly found it was number two in a series (and misdescribed too). However, having read it, I feel no great compulsion to go back and read book one.

It would be hard to find this story's niche. The language - whilst not terrible - is strong enough in places to make this a young adult rather than a children's book, but the story was simplistic - almost turgid. Basically the protagonist is an 18 year old lad who has discovered he is secretly a witch prince. His mother has been kidnapped and he has a lot to learn about his father.

Maybe it was that I had not started this series at the beginning, but it really did not captivate me in the slightest. The celtic connection was tenuous, and the overall concept was unconvincing.

#189 Counting Stars - David Almond

I love David Almond's writing, and this book is no exception. This is an autobiographical account, detailing the author's childhood in Felling. The writing is, as usual, both accessible and profound - and there are hidden depths here.

One thing that was odd about this book was the way it revealed all the sources of inspiration used in the other David Almond books I have read. There were hints of Skellig with the talk if angels and shoulder blades being vestigial wings. I could see inspiration for the fire eaters in the story about passing the eleven plus, and in one of the character names. The choirboys in Clay find their inspiration in the author's catholic upbringing. And so it goes on.

This is perhaps not a surprise. Most authors - maybe all the good ones - use real life experiences and locations as inspiration for their works. The only odd thing was that as I read this story, I was so clearly put in mind of all the others.

#190 The New Testament of the Bible

I completed the New Testament today. This was a re-read, and on completion I feel that I should look at something more in depth next, as re-reading the Bible itself was an exercise in reading familiar material, but I felt without really getting the subtle contexts and particularly the occasions for the various letters.

For my next time through therefore, I will take it more slowly and try reading one in depth book or commentary for each book of the Bible - re-reading the book's text alongside it.

#191 The Ghost Behind the Wall

This is a good creepy ghost story for children. David is a 12 year old victim of a broken home. He is bullied at school and making himself increasingly unpopular through bad behaviour. He is als a risk taker, which sometimes leads him into trouble - and never moreso than when he climbs into an old ventialtion shaft in his flat that connects to other flats in his apartment complex. He uses his doscovery to spy and play nasty tricks on his neighbours - until the day he sees a ghost and events start to take a turn for the worse.

There is redemption, friendship, reformation and love in this book. Lots of good strong emotions that make for a memorable story. It is short though, and lacks the depths of a more adult novel. Nevertheless one to be enjoyed by children and probably young adults too. And indeed anyone who wants a short but enjoyable ghost story.

#192 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace is one of those strangely priveleged books that will be read not because of what it depicts but because what it is. It is hard to think of a longer book than this in the English language (although of course, this is a Russian novel) - and even if there is something longer, no one will care because War and Peace is the benchmark! The ultimate in long works. And this is both to its benefit and its loss, because whilst many people will read it because its long and thus well known - just as many will avoid it, likewise because it is so long.

I started reading the book with no other preconception about it than its length, and ultimately I was surprised by the power of the story, the insights of Tolstoy and what I learned about Napoleon's abortive invasion of Russia. Here was an episode of history we covered in one lesson in school, wrapped up with the playing of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. And suddenly it was all so much more real. I still remember the picture in the school text book of Napoleon's retreat from Russia, but had you asked me questions on the subject I would have found it hard to dredge up much good information. But in War and Peace you live the whole thing from the build up to war in 1805 to the eventual retreat of Napoleon and a little of how Russia chabged after this.

There is love interest, plenty of action, amusing side stories, and also some most wonderful observations on the society of the day (which are often still pertinant today). And interspersing the whole thing, there are author asides on the nature of actors in history, and here I was suprised to find how mcuh I agreed with and enjoyed Tolstoy's insights.

To Tolstoy, the historian who focuses on the geniuses of history falls into error, because history is more like a tide, sweeping the genius along like everyone else. This is a powerful antidote to many a book I have read that has ruined itself by allowing characters to act as though they and they alone can turn the whole course of history through some act that they alone determine (I think of my criticism of Orson Scott Card's "Empire" here, but there are many others). I found this book insightful and refreshing.

But even though I very much enjoyed this work, and would thoroughly recommend reading it - I also have to criticsie the very slow start. The book is so huge that the cast of characters is likewise enormous. Tolstoy spends a long time introducing the characters, and even though there is some storyline in that section, it was tough going and many a reader no doubt will give up before the really exciting stuff gets going. This is a great pity, but other than encouraging anyone to persevere, there is little that can be done to help this.

#193 Exegetical Fallacies - D. A. Carson

I have had this book in my Amazon basket for way too long. Unfortunately it had slipped to the third page of my books to buy and I had forgotten about it, until an Amazon price change reminded me it was there (I saved a whole 4 pence on the previous price)!

So this book is a look at various fallacies of biblical exegesis. It is the kind of book any serious student of scripture should read, and the author is very careful to limit his criticism to criticism of method, without getting caught up in defending his own theological persuasions. Indeed he even criticises his own published work, which seems very fair.

The book is divided into sections - firstly on fallacies around language (words especially), then around grammar, then logical fallcies and presuppositional fallacies and such like. The structure works well enough, although by the end I was wondering whether there was another way to structure the material. On reflection, I cannot think of anything better though. the problem is simply that there are too many ways we can err.

I felt that some knowledge of Greek helped me in the reading of this book. The author transliterates all the Greek words he discusses, but he does not actually translate any (and does the same with German once too). Fortunately I understood everything I needed to, but I felt a translation would make this book more accessible to students of the Bible with no knowledge of Greek, who are not working from the Greek but might be evaluating the arguments of people who are saying things like "ah well, in the original Greek we see this word play..."

Some of my favourite pet peeves were covered nicely in this book, and many others I had not considered. And the fact that I can think of other pet peeves that were not covered is not a bad reflection on the book, because the point is to give us the exegetical tools for avoiding falling into error. And inasmuch as that is what the book is attempting, it achieves just that.

#194 A Hero's Quest (Gladiator Boy) - David Grimstone

This is a book that does not seem to have quite hit its niche. It is very short - 100 pages with double line spacing and some of that is taken up with adverts for the rest of the series plus plenty of pictures. I read it in about 20 minutes.

Looking at the book, I was wondering whether it would make a good first reader for a 5 or 6 year old venturing into novels for the first time. Perhaps that was what was intended, but the privations and fighting themes would be a big jump on from the Blue Bananas series my daughter is currently reading. My feeling was that the storyline might appeal to slightly older boys - maybe 7+. Having said that, children are all different so if your 6 year old likes to read about running over hot coals, or fighting in a spiked out ring to avoid spending life in a dark dungeon, then this book is for them.

There are some nice touches to the book. The cut out "make your own arena" is fun, as is the link to a website, and the gladiator variation on "rock, paper, scissors".

On the downside this book is not really very well researched. Not that exact historical accuracy is necessary, but if you are going to give your characters Roman names, then calling a poor boy sold into slavery "Decimus Rex" is almost as bad as naming his friend "Gladius" (which just means "sword". Rex means "King"). And then why call the owner of the slaves "Slavius Doom"? That is not really Latin at all!

Okay so they are just names but that seems to point to a more general failure to anchor the story in the period. A good chance to drop in little references to Roman custom that could be educational is missed. For instance, perhaps Decimus could have had his bulla ripped away when he was taken into slavery. Caroline Lawrence's "Roman Mysteries" series is leagues ahead of this one in that respect.

And then there was the issue that the book looked like it was going to stop on a cliff hanger, like a bad TV episode - forcing the reader to buy the next book to find out how the story ends. Had it done so I would have given this book one star - but fortunately we were treated to the first chapter of the next book, which really was the last chapter of this one and finished the story nicely, whilst still setting up the rest of the series. It was an odd structure, but ultimately the story ended well.

I should stop writing before my review gets longer than the book! But in summary, this is a good series for children - probably boys in particular - who are perhaps 7-8 and less confident readers, or who are younger but ready to attack some slightly violent themes.

#195 Endymion Spring - Matthew Skelton

I picked this book up in a second hand bookshop. I don't remember seeing it on a display anywhere before, which is odd considering how good it is. This is one of those young adult adventures that could be enjoyed by people older (and indeed, younger) than its intended readership.

Endymion Spring is a mute assistant to the great Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the movable type printing press (although the notes in the book give some additional background to that claim). However Gutenberg goes into business with Johann Fust, who has something more diabolical in mind - and thus causes a chain of events that leads to Oxford. Here there are two American children, Blake and Duck, visiting with their mother who is involved in research of the Faust of literature. When a strange book bites Blake in the library, events unfold that span the centuries and lead to a wonderful, mysterious and sometimes terrifying adventure.

This book is fast paced, with good prose and dialogue and a story that had me hooked more or less from the start. It is a book about books, which is always a good one for hooking avid readers. But it is also a book about a boy who is not so keen on books. Maybe that part of teh story does not quite work - but you do feel that Blake is pretty much your average 12 year old, albeit stuck in an odd academic background that he resents.

I liked the interplay in the family. Duck is the annoying perfect little sister. But she is also Blake's friend, and it becomes clear that they love each other despite their normal sibling rivalries. The adults also are not just piece players in this book, but have their own unfolding story.

But ultimately this book is about the mystery: who was Endymion Spring? And what was his legacy?

This is a book I would be happy to recommend to young adults and adults alike. A satisfyingly spooky read.

#196 American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has become one of those rare breed of writers for whom many people will buy his books as soon as they see his name on the cover. And this is with good reason. He can write superbly well. His characterisations are interesting, his narrative is entertaining and his dialogue is frequently downright hilarious. This book is as good an example of that as almost any (I preferred the Anansi Boys though, which I read before this. There are shared themes between these two books).

In American Gods, we are introduced to Shadow - a convict who is released early on compassionate grounds following the death of his wife. Almost immediately he is met by a man who calls himself Wednesday - and is clearly much more than just an ordinary man. Wednesday wants Shadow's help, but he is not specific as to what he wants - only mentioning that it is very dangerous. Indeed, early in the book there are all kinds of things that we are not told. Why exactly was Shadow in prison? Who is Wednesday (actually I guessed that one straight away), what does he want? What happened to Shadow's wife? And much more.

The answers to these questions mostly do not come early. But they do come. There is a road trip across America that put me strongly in mind of Stephen King's "The Talisman". The protagonists are quite different, but I was reminded of the other book because of the natural/supernatural duality and the journey across America, experiencing different places - some more special than others. The whole story, it seemed to me, could as easily have been penned by Stephen King.

There are two reasons I do not think, in good consience, that I can give this five stars (even though Neil Gaiman fans will therefore start voting down my review! But please don't without leaving me a comment as to why!) These are:

1) This was a very earthy novel. There is plenty of sex - especially oral sex - mentioned. Many people will like that in a book, but I did not think that for the most part it added anything to the story. The language likewise was earthier than was strictly necessary, and moreso than in the Anansi Boys, which I preferred to this book. (I also thought the Anansi Boys was funnier).

2) This book was almost ponderously long. Ultimately there were two plot themes, but the middle of the book spent so long setting them up that the resolution was very brief. One plot was resolved in a couple of pages and was something of a non event. The other was resolved in a longer epilogue. But did the book need to be 670 pages long? Neil Gaiman admits the book is long but excuses it by saying that America is a big country, which is true. The narrative is wonderfully descriptive of America - but whether that was all necessary for this story is an open question.

So in summary - a very good book. I can recommend it, although I preferred the Anansi Boys, and that would be the book of Gaiman's I handed adult readers first. (The Graveyard Book would be my pick for young adults or those who enjoy young adult books).

#197 Heaven Eyes - David Almond

David Almond writes books that are some of the most profound young adult literature I have ever read. Apart from their short length, they would rate up there with any of the great works of contemporary fiction - and for young adult readers moving into a more mature theme, these works are ideal.

Okay when I said "more mature" that sounded patronising! But I cannot think of a better word. These books are deeper than most adult novels I read. But that does not mean you have to be mature to get something from them. They are written primarily for young adults, but loved by adults too. If you know a better word for that - let me know!

In this story we are intrduced to Erin Law, orphaned and living in care with other such children. They are encouraged to share their feelings about what has happened in "circle times", although Erin refuses too. They are labelled as "damaged" and encouraged to believe that they are victims of circumstance that will leave them unloved by the world.

But from time to time they run away, and on one such adventure, Erin and two friends cross a river on a raft and end up at a wharf in the muddy Black Middens area, where they meet an old man and another orphan - heaven eyes.

David Almonds works are laced with mystery, and some of that mystery remains unresolved. Who is Heaven Eyes? Ultimately the answer to that is less important than what she teaches the children about love and family and their own place in the world.

There is sadness in this book. The author, who lost a parent and a sister at an early age speaks from experience on that score, and the voices of these children are realistic and almost heart breaking at times. But the ultimate story is one of hope.

Not everyone will like this book. David Almond's books are light in enthralling plot, and heavy in characterisation. Some people will give up on the book asking "well what was it about"? Each to their own - and if you like books that are all plot and adventure, then maybe this is not for you. Then again, it is a short work and maybe it is worth a try anyway! If you like deep mystical books with a hint of magic and a large dose of realism, then this one is recommended.

#198 Kit's Wilderness - David Almond

This story is beautifully written. David Almond's use of language, his characterisations, and his blend of magic and a hard realism rooted in rugged and historic Northumbria gives a reading experience unlike any other and second to none.

Kit moves to Stonygate, where his family hail from, and quickly feels integrated with the local community. A new boy, but an insider - and this is particularly recognised by local troublemaker, John Askew, who strikes up an unlikely - and initially an uneasy - friendship.

Askew encourages Kit to play a game called Death. A curious game of the type that people sometimes play to scare themselves, but this game is more intense. Some people cheat at the game, but some people - including Askew and Kit, see something very real and a touch chilling. There are ghosts of people lost in a pit disaster, and another strange ghost too. Kit sees the ghosts and he discovers his grandfather has too.

But his grandfather is not well, and increasingly suffers from senior moments, or being "off with the fairies". Askew also lands himself in trouble (which he is well used to) and then vanishes.

There are so many threads in this story that weave together to make something that is very beautiful. Kit struggles and grows and learns. There is friendship and love and courage here, and themes of life and death all blended in a manner that is very typical of David Almond, but pretty much without parallel among other children's/young adult's authors.

This story works on many levels, and even though its unlikely anyone will understand all the themes the Author intended for this work, it is likely that anyone will understand some and enjoy it. However, I have to add a warning that I always write for David Almond's books: These are not heavy plot driven adventure stories. These are quieter and more reflective works. Not everyone will enjoy them, although I wish they would!

But as long as you are not looking for the next Alex Rider adventure. As long as you are happy to read a story that is ultimately about a boy, Kit, and not about saving the world from alien invasion - this book is one I would thoroughly recommend.

#199 Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious

This book is exactly what it says on the cover: a crash course in Church history. The author is the grandson of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and from the reformed wing of evangelical Christianity. He is sound and writes with a personal tone, and many people will love this book. He wrote another book that I liked very much - his family portrait of Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Nevertheless I cannot give this book quite the glowing review that I would like to. This book was very good and collates a huge amount of information and detail into a small space, making it readable and accessible. The author is up front about being from the reformed wing of evangelicalism, and we know when he is putting his personal view on an issue. The presence of his personal opinions is by no means illegitimate in a book on history.

But even though I too am from the reforemed and evangelical wing of the Church, and have every on of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' books on my bookshelf (and read too!) I felt, reading this book, that it had some issues in terms of time spent on evangelical church history as opposed to the broader sweep of church history.

Some of this is my own bias, but - for instance - some very important people in curch history, such as Theodosius for instance, do not even get named. Many others are little more than footnotes. There is brief mention of early church doctrinal disputes, but the issues are so briefly covered that it is hard to get a feel for how all encompassing they were. Arianism gets reasonable coverage. Gnosticism is hardly mentioned (in fact maybe not at all). Constantine is briefly covered, although his mother is nothing more than a footnote.

This is a crash course though, so maybe I should not expect so much from this work. At least these people are mentioned - but I would have liked perhaps a pointer at least to something like J N D Kelly's excellent "Early Church Doctrines". In mentioning the medieval dispute over the number of angels that dance on a head of a pin, it would have been nice to extend that to another paragraph at least, explaining how the real issue in that dispute was over corporeal/non corporeal forms, and why this was actually considered a valid point of inquiry.

But come the reformation we are then given pen portraits of a selection of important figures in Church history. These have a strong bias to evangelical tradition. All this information is valid and useful, but here is my problem with this approach: It feeds confirmation bias.

Readers from the reformed and evangelical traditions will enjoy reading about the great evangelical leaders, but there is little here to challenge them to consider the broader sweep of church history. This could be an altogether too comfortable book for evangelicals. On the other hand, anyone reading from another tradition will probably dismiss it as an example of evangelical bias, and again not allow themselves to be challenged by the distinctive evangelical contribution to Christianity. Lloyd-Jones may be family, but for a book on the broad sweep of church history he seems to get mentioned rather often. (On the other hand, Lloyd-Jones' treatment of the history of dispensationalism is fuller than the one on this book, so that is a good place for further reading).

I think what I would have preferred was a longer work that considered the issues more thoroughly, and guided interested readers into further reading, and that was more challenging. There were some challenges though - a clear call for Christians to avoid isolationism, and the insight (found elsewhere also) that separation of religion from the state is good for Christianity, and that the state cannot legislate morality. All these are good insights.

Despite thos criticisms, this is not a bad book and one I could happily recommend to anyone who has no knowledge at all of church history. I could imagine adapting some of the material for a sunday school lesson plan on the subject.

#200 The Ash Spear - G. R. Grove

This is a series that has grown on me as I have read it. From the start it has been well researched and well written, with a wonderful sense of place in the narrative that sweeps the reader back in time to sixth century Wales. Maybe not quite as it actually was, because who can say how it was? but as good a re-creation of that historical setting as any I have read.

The series follows Gwernin, a young storyteller in the generation after Arthur as he travels across the land, much of the time with Taliesin the bard. In this book the story becomes an adventure filled with dispute and rivalries and many a self contained short tale. It culminates in a thrilling adventure, through which the young storyteller comes of age. Whether that is the end of his tale is not clear, but it wraps things up in a satisfying manner for this book at least.

The research is as good as the story here. We are treated to snippets from early medieval writings, and allusions to others. The Gododdin feature in this story (and I note that the author and I share a book containing that poetry, among others), and there are also allusions to Anglo Saxon literary tradition and just a snippet of Old English. All this adds wonderfully to that sense of place I mentioned.

The author's historical note makes clear on one area where the story departs deliberately from the more commonly accepted view of the 6th Century bardic tradition - but again, as the notes say, the literary tradition is nevertheless not always supported by the archeological evidence. They don't call this the dark ages for nothing! So for the purposes of a good work of fiction, no one would quibble with the digression I think.

So this book was an enjoyable read. It may be hard going for anyone unfamiliar with Welsh names and pronounciation, but that all adds to the flavour of the book. Anyone enjoying historical novels or celtic themes should enjoy this variation on the coming of age theme.

#201 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - Jeff Kinney

When I finished the first Wimpy Kid book I showed it to my daughter. She feigned non interest so I left it lying around and within 2 days she had read it through and was begging for more. Then we had a school book fair and she not only picked up the next two books, but she convinced loads of friends to try it too. The original copy is now on loan to friends, and I just managed to read this one after she had finished it and before she lent that one out too!

So without a doubt this book is popular with its intended audience. It states 9+ on the back of the book, although my daughter is 8. There is no maximum age for this book though, because it is hilarious and works on so many levels.

Adults will read this book and be transported back to their school days. Greg, the diary writer (or journal writer as he would prefer it to be called) is very much a typical 12 year old boy. The genius of this book is how the author captures that so perfectly and succinctly. Like any 12 year old boy, he does not waste words in his diary on feelings and touchy feely stuff. He writes as he thinks, and then draws pictures - and these are hilarious.

I found myself literallly laughing out loud at this book (and few books have that effect on me). Anyone who has been a kid will identify with this flawed but lovable boy as he struggles against the victimisation at the hands of his older brother, and all the other curved balls life throws at him.

A quick but excellent read. Well worth it.

#202 Syren - Angie Sage

When I first started reading book 1 of this series (Magyk), I was not at all sure about it. It seemed that here was another series about wizards in a faux medieval setting, with nothing much to distinguish it. But just as I was thinking this to myself, Boy 412 leapt from the pages and slapped me around the face with a damp herring! I was totally hooked, because this series is second to none in terms of imagination, lovable characters (princess Jenna, Marcia the extraordinary wizard, Beatle and Aunt Zelda to name but a few) and hilarious plot elements and twists that are strongly reminiscent of a mixture of J K Rowling and Roald Dahl. Angie Sage is in the top flight of British children's authors - and one thing these books are not, is derivative. They are original and enjoyable stories that will be loved by children, young adults and adults alike.

This book takes up where the last left off. Princess Jenna, Beatle, Nicko and Snorri have not yet made it home after the adventures in Queste, and a newly promoted Septimus takes it upon himself to collect them on his dragon, Spitfyre. But all is not as it should be, and Aunt Zelda's attempts to get a safecharm to Septimus do not run exactly according to plan! The result then is an adventure that is every bit as good as those in previous volumes.

In this story we learn more about Princess Jenna's father, and wrap up some other storylines. We learn about another type of magical (or should I say "magykal") creature that has not yet made an appearance, but makes up for it here in Angie Sage's usual off the wall but captivating style. As usual there are issues of love, friendship, trust and betrayal, forgiveness and reconciliation. There are poignant moments and exhilarating ones, and all wrapped up in a zany world that is characteristic of this series.

One new twist in this book is that the world of Septimus Heap gains a whole new and unexpected dimension to its history. Some people will love this for the way it fills in some questions about why the world is as it is. Others will perhaps be less sure, having been quite comfortable with a world that had some mysteries as to how it got the way it is. I'll avoid spoilers by not saying more about that here.

All in all, though, this is a first class book in a first rate series. I would have no problem in recommending this to pretty much anyone at all.

#203 The Grey King Susan Cooper

Re-read this for a Librarything group read and still loved it! I have posted a review and will say more in the appropriate group read thread when discussion starts on October 8th.

#204 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw - Jeff Kinney

#205 The Secret Heart - David Almond

#206 Return to Groosham Grange - Anthony Horowitz

Reviews pending.

#207 Action, Emotion and Will - Anthony Kenny

Review also pending

I have now posted reviews for the 4 books above.

#208 Alibi Junior High - Greg Logsted

Fun but slightly cliched book. Long review pending.

#209 Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do - Tom Vanderbilt

A well researched and thorough book that reads like a good article in "Wired" but book length! A little US centric but manages worldwide coverage. Long review pending.

#210 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - Jeff Kinney

Latest in this wonderful series that I found thanks to Roni's review of the first one. Long review is posted.

#211 Lost Riders - Elizabeth Laird

Story of Camel Racing in Dubai, and the exploitation of the children who were used as jockeys. Long review pending.

#212 A People's History of Christianity - Diana Butler Bass

#213 Strange Boy - Paul Magrs

#214 Cherub: Class A - Robert Muchamore

Reviews pending.

#215 The Complete Idiot's Guide to the American Presidency

#216 Catching Fire Suzanne Collins

#217 Dragon Keeper - Robin Hobb

Getting very behind on my reviews :( These are also pending.

yet more with reviews pending:

#218 Silver on the Tree - Susan Cooper

#219 Tomorrow's Magic - Pamela Service

#220 Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart

#221 Rethinking Christianity - Keith Ward

#222 The Land of the Silver Apples - Nancy Farmer