Tafadhali's Read More Than in 2008 Challenge

I'm participating in the 999 challenge, so I'm hoping to read more than 50 this year, but I'm not off to the most rocking start so far -- I seem to be picking up some speed, though, so we'll see how it goes!

Starred books are for school.

MASTER LIST

1. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen *
3. Junky by William S. Burroughs
4. Hero by Perry Moore
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen *
6. Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge *
7. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
8. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
9. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
10. Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
11. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
12. Godly Queen Hester by anonymous *
13. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
14. Narrating Realism by Harry E. Shaw
15. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare *
16. Measure for Measure by Harriet Hawkins
17. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
18. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens *
19. Transatlantic Revivalism by Richard Carwardine
20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
21. Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
22. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
23. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
24. The Mediator: Shadowland by Meg Cabot
25. Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
26. The Liar by Stephen Fry
27. The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard
28. The Mediator: Ninth Key by Meg Cabot
29. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
30. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
31. The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno (re-read)
32. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
33. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Vol. 1 by M.T. Anderson
34. Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey
35. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
36. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody *
37. Zoo Story by Edward Albee *
38. The American Dream by Edward Albee *
39. Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
40. Freedom Bound by Robert Weisbrot *
41. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Vol. 2 by M.T. Anderson
42. A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee *
43. The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? by Edward Albee *
44. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
45. The Mediator: Reunion by Meg Cabot
46. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee * (re-read)
47. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
48. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
49. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky (re-read)
50. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (re-read)
51. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (re-read)

1. Anne of Avonlea

I just, at this belated stage in my life, discovered Anne Shirley, and I do feel as if I've been missing out! Anne is immensely charming and engaging, and, if I sometimes feel she is too generally well-liked (a bit Mary Sue-ish, perhaps), I'm quickly won over by how breezy the books are. Not too mention how thoroughly Gilbert Blythe won me over in his first appearance -- god, these books make me feel twelve.

I found Anne of Avonlea as enjoyable as the first volume, even if I missed Matthew. Davy was a great deal of fun (though Dora was rather hard done by), and I was rooting for Miss Lavendar and Paul Irving's father 'til the end. I knew that Anne would manage to be completely blind to Gilbert's love for awhile yet, so I needed my romantic fix somewhere, I guess.

Very nice books to have open in a tab on my computer, always available to dip into.

*** 1/2 (out of ****)

2. Sense & Sensibility

Of the three Jane Austen books I've read, I liked this one best -- I'm sure Pride and Prejudice would hold that title, but I haven't attempted it since I was fifteen or sixteen, and think I need to go back to it now that I've gained a bit of confidence with Austen.

I always have trouble connecting emotionally with Austen -- some combination of her habit of telling not showing in regards to the growth of strong emotion and the reservedness of most of her heroines -- but I love movies based on her books, so there has to be something there, right? The last Austen book I went through was Emma, my enjoyment of which was somewhat marred by my impatience with its heroine, but here I was able to fully appreciate Austen's sly humor. Mr and Mrs Palmer slayed me. Elinor was likeable, if quiet, and Marianne was infinitely sympathetic, though obviously very silly.

My main quibble was that I found Marianne's ending very... rushed, and not thoroughly convincing. I like Col. Brandon better than Willoughby (whom I thought brought out her worst traits) from the start, but my liking him does not a romance build. Still, I really enjoyed this book.

****

3. Junky

I'm pretty sure my main response to this book was: "Hahahahaha, oh god, hahahahahaha, oh dear lord, Burroughs."

Crazy stuff, here, guys.

He was so 1950s-gay. "Oh, I'm just going to go sit in a gay bar and think about how much I hate queers. P.S. I'm married."

P.S. You shot your wife while you were writing this book, Burroughs. And then didn't include it in your portrait of your messed-up-itude.

Which isn't to say that this wasn't an interesting book, or that it didn't have moments of loveliness (or beautifully expressed horrificness), but I'm not sure I can really respond.

***

Hi, Tafadhali!
I love the Anne of Green Gables books. I found out that last year was the 100th Anniversary of Anne, and some people reread all the books. I didn't, but I did read Emily of New Moon also by L. M. Montgomery. I also loved that book. Have a great day!
--BJ

I grew up on Anne of Green Gables books and I'm always excited to hear about someone who is just discovering them for the first time. I'm glad you're enjoying the series!

Anne of Avonlea and Junky. Very eclectic!

#7 - Haha, I know -- I do like a variety of books.

4. Hero

This book was stunning. I had heard "gay superhero, you should read it," so I expected something a bit more light-hearted or tongue-in-cheek than what I got, but was very pleasantly surprised to find a book that -- while it is witty in its approach to comic book cliches -- delves so much deeper than I expected, explored ideas of what it means to be heroic on so many levels. It was like Watchmen-lite, and I mean that in the best of ways -- much more hopeful than that book, but with some of what makes that graphic novel so phenomenal.

I highly recommend this book -- I read it in one sitting.

*** 1/2

5. Persuasion

I didn't like this one so well as I did Sense and Sensibility -- and I think requiring two Austen books in two weeks pushes my Austen limits a wee bit, TCD school of English -- but I did like it. My roommates and I were discussing it, and decided that Anne Elliot really is the sweetest Austen heroine. I just wish that she could have had a confidante of some sort -- everything in this book is so self-contained and internal as, to be fair, it often is in Austen's books.

My love of Napoleonic war era naval adventures may have helped my appreciation of the book somewhat. :D

***

#5 - I did think that it was very fitting that I finally read Anne of Green Gables in its centenary. I got in just under the wire, finishing it in early December last year.

6. Playboy of the Western World

Read somewhat too quickly to judge accurately, I fear, in an attempt to get it over with for school's sake. Funny, if riddled with good old "Irish peasant speak," and I think I'd get a better sense of it in performance.

** 1/2

7. Anne of the Island

ANNE AND GILBERT. ♥

****

8. North and South

LOOOOOVE. I just finished it in a big rush this afternoon. I think I was at almost exactly the right age for this book -- maybe a touch too old and a touch too young, simultaneously, but close enough. I love all the themes it incorporates, the way it ties together industrial concerns and social change with personal maturity and love. Margaret is so strong and likable, and she grows so much as a person during the book. I was reading the introduction -- it's horribly condescending, but interesting in its own way, in my edition -- and it made the interesting comment that the book is in many ways about passion, about controlling passion and learning to accept it as part of life. Margaret is afraid of her own passion -- her violence, her sexuality, her love -- and of other people seeing her as an object of their passion, but part of her maturing process is to incorporate that passion into her very controlled persona, and to end up with a man who, despite his excessive self-control, has had the courage to express his feelings openly. And, for all that is a book about people with strongly held opinions and self-possession, to whom concession to another's point of view or needs does not come easily, it is one that is very compassionate to all its characters. It's about compromise. THAT IS MY FAVORITE THING, GUYS. I'm obviously enthusiastic.

****

Anne of Green Gables--so melodramatic and yet so wonderful! Tracking down all eight books and all of the Emily of New Moon books was VERY important to me as a kid.

9. The Martian Chronicles

Some of the stories fell a little flat for me -- I liked the Adam-Eve one, but it was a bit too farcical for my taste, and I thought the Poe one should have stood alone, even if obviously I'm interested in Bradbury's anti-censorship stance -- but it was much more beautiful than I expected. The last story, the last image, was especially astounding. These were classic stories, familiar SF tropes, but as a group they became something more, and the prose elevated them -- it was like watching The Twilight Zone.

****

10. A Study in Scarlet

I'd been meaning to read more Sherlock Holmes novels -- I'd only read The Hound of the Baskervilles as a child -- and so I thought I'd start at the very beginning (a very good, etc.). It was nice to get the backstory of things a bit -- I'd forgotten Watson was in Afghanistan, for one thing, and hadn't thought about what it must be like to meet Sherlock Holmes for the first time. Imagine going to college, and having the RA be like, "Hey, here's your new roommate!" and it's Sherlock Holmes. Actually, that seems startlingly like something that would happen at my school.

The story itself was fun, though, really, it's not that impressive to see Holmes pull data out of nowhere when you can't observe anything yourself. I want visual elements! But I am determined to get into Sherlock Holmes, that's why I bought the omnibus.

***

11. Slaughterhouse-Five

I've just begun to get into Vonnegut -- I read Cat's Cradle last year, and loved it -- so I decided that I of course needed to read his absolute classic. I think I may have liked Cat's Cradle a bit better, but this book was wonderful. His writing is quirky and funny and incisive, but above all I find it really beautiful. There's an elegance in "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt," and it's so powerful for such a simple phrase. (I'm afraid that "and so it goes" is going to start infecting my speech, though.)

*** 1/2

I've been meaning to read that for ages...like you, I've also read Cat's Cradle and loved it...I've also enjoyed Sirens of Titan, though not as much as Cat's Cradle. Thanks for the review!

12. Godly Queen Hester

This is a really interesting 16th century prescriptive play that deals with one of my favorite parts of the Bible (and certainly the part I know best, having co-written a Purim shpil on it), the story of Esther, putting it in the politically relevant role of an allegory on the state of the kingdom. It slyly puts down Henry VIII -- King Ahasueras being dumb as rocks and half as fun, so not too complimentary a comparison -- while still safely focusing the critique on proto-Iago Aman, who provides a Cardinal Wolsey stand in. It neatly excises any mention of Queen Vashti, perhaps to shed Ahasueras in a better light and to strengthen textual connections with Henry's popular first wife, Catherine of Aragon. As a model for women, Esther is much more clear-sighted, assertive, and shrewd than most of the time period (and than most in the Bible), so, whee!, I enjoyed reading it.

I don't think I can really rate a text I clearly read in such an academic light in the same way I do the other ones on my list...

13. The Crying of Lot 49

Pynchon's most accessible text, eh?

I didn't like it. I didn't get it. Well, the point of it. I grokked a lot of the satire of Southern California and Sixties culture, being from Orange County myself and a big 60s person as a teen, but the main plot was convoluted and, frankly, dull. The writing was sometimes beautiful, but mostly empty and hard to follow.

I'm a dramatic literature major, so I've written more papers than I like to think about about the difficulty of human connection and communication, about alienation, and about What America Means, but this one wasn't doing it for me.

* 1/2

Thank you for the review - I thought I was the only one! I've just finished my BA with an english literature major, and I'm a lifelong reader, so it's not like I'm scared of tackling the 'big' books, but I didn't like Pynchon, and didn't really 'get' him either. Your other reviews are great too - keep it up!

>22 tash99:: I felt like I should have liked it, especially because LT told me I probably wouldn't and I like to prove people wrong, but I just... didn't.

14. Narrating Realism: Austen, Scott, Eliot

Two brief notes: 1) I only read 2/3, up through the Austen chapter, as that is what is relevant to my research and 2) ha, that title looks like a list of sixth grade boys' names.

I thought this book was well done -- it's first three chapters did a good job of laying out the current critical landscape in terms of dealing with 19th century realism, which was helpful for someone like me, who is reading realism in a scholarly setting for the first time after a primary focus on post-modernism and pre-17th century stuff. I don't think, however, that Shaw ever illuminate his ultimate definition of realism as clearly as he could have done.

His commentary on Austen was helpful at chipping away at some of her opacity (I find her very hard to read sometimes, but I think she's worth the effort) and had some useful commentary on the conventions of the marriage plot as played out in her works, but his commentary's connection to his larger points about realism seemed tenuous at times -- or, rather, since his definition of realism seemed less than clear to me, the connections revealed less than they might have done. Still, a very good piece of scholarship.

(To be fair, it will probably make more sense to me once I go look up a thorough definition of metonymy.)

***

15. Measure for Measure

One of the most interesting and underrated of Shakespeare's plays in my mind, but I'm in such paper writing mode I cannot even comment about it as a text one reads for pleasure right now. I'm all, "Sex, religion, and politics are intimately tied in Measure for Measure, construction of the first and authority of the second contributing to maintaining the conservative power structures of the third" and "5. All men are made complicit, in the course of this play, in this system of repression, blame, and coercion." Fun stuff.

(Well, obviously, I think so.)

*** 1/2

16. Measure for Measure

(A critical text, not the Shakespeare play.)

This was an invaluable resource in planning my essay -- it only touches on the specific issues I'm dealing with, but it's very comprehensive and it raises questions that, once thought on, cannot be ignored.

*** 1/2

17. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

I am hideously ashamed of this, but...I definitely gave up on this book, bored, as a child (and I was rarely bored by books) and I kind of prefer the movie. Yes, the movie where magic saves the day and Jenner is a mustache-twirling villain. (Hey, it's better than him being punished for CONSUMERISM.) (It's possible I found the book somewhat prescriptive.) (EVEN THOUGH I DID LIKE IT I SWEAR.)

***

18. Dombey and Son

I tend to be less interested in Dickens' books centering on female characters than those focused on male characters, because, frankly, his perfect women are pretty boring. In this case, it was less that Florence was boring or too well-loved, and more that she had the most depressing life I've ever read about.

That said, despite how depressing much of this book was -- and it really, really was -- I enjoyed it a great deal, often for that bleakness. Its focus on mercantilism and greed and men who think they can buy and sell what they will was fascinating (especially in view of the Measure for Measure essay I'm working on), and Edith Granger may be one of my favorite Dickens characters ever. And the mirroring of her and Alice was very like the parallels between the two Elizas and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility oh god finals are eating my brain.

Plenty of Dickens characteristically fabulous language and hilarious characters -- how I cheered for Mr Toots! And the dreaded MacStinger woman!

Other small quibbles were the especially overly dramatic chapter endings and the very unlikely ending (which made me nearly cry on a plane, so, um, I guess it did its job). But a very worthwhile read indeed.

*** 1/2

Loved your review and good luck with finals! :)
--BJ

Thanks, BJ! I'm nearly done now, though I'm sure a few things about Yeats will start cropping up here, heh.

19. Transatlantic Revivalism

Another book I didn't read as completely as I might have done, as I was reading it for finals, but one that I found quite solidly done -- I only wish I'd been able to incorporate more of it into my essay ultimately. As an overview of transatlantic evangelic revivals in the 19th century, it was helpful for a much-lapsed Presbyterian who mostly studies Judaism like myself in breaking down the differences between different denominations and their doctrines/experiences of revivalism. (Even if I did find it somewhat dense at times, due to my general ignorance of Christian history after the Diet of Worms.)

Of especial interest to me was the books focus on Charles Grandison Finney, one of the founding fathers of my college. I knew about my school's Christian reformist past, of course, but the book gave me a lot more insight into that bit of my college history, especially its abolitionist reputation.

On a slightly different note, one other book that I began for this essay but didn't have the time to finish, but seemed fascinating, was Jon Butler's Awash in a Sea of Faith, which provides a controversial history of American religiosity.

***

20. Little Women

I know I ought to have read this book years ago, and I think I did make a start at it back in 4th grade, but, like Anne of Green Gables, it is a children's classic that I am just now getting to.

First things first: The book is undeniably preachy. Almost unbearably so at times. And some of the girls, Meg and Amy in particular, can be trying, seeming a bit shallow or silly -- it's realistic, for their ages, and that's one thing I love about the book, but I had about my fill of selfish 12-year-olds in middle school.

Still, I like that the girls have faults and that those faults don't make them unsympathetic (though I wish they'd stop harping on so much about remedying them).

What I loved about the book, though -- what is making me long to seek out the sequel and watch the movie and skip about -- is Jo. Oh my god, Jo, how could she be more wonderful? I love her boyish frankness, and her enthusiasm, and her lovely friendship with Laurie (who is an imp, but a lovable one). She might be one of my favorite fictional characters ever, it is entirely possible (and it only helps that I can imagine Katharine Hepburn playing her!). Jo is remarkable, and I only wish she could stay the gangly, slangy creature she is at the beginning of the book. Endless love, really.

***

ETA: Having realized that I somehow happened across the only edition of Little Women that still published the book in two volumes (Little Women and Good Wives), I'm feeling disinclined to read the second. It's where all the stuff I thought happened in this bit, and was pleasantly surprised didn't, happens.

21. Sexing the Cherry

Interesting and beautiful. I loved the way that themes of identity and exploration so central to the 16th and 17th centuries were taken and reinterpreted here in a post-modern way. I also loved the imaginative scope of the book, and the picture of a girl who dreamed of being bigger than herself and unignorable, but I was skeptical of some of the religious elements (despite disagreeing with them entirely, I find myself somewhat defensive of Puritans?) and wished the story of the twelve dancing princesses had been worked into the story more.

What it did mainly is make me crave a nice, imagery-rich, feminist lesbian romance.

***

This has been on my TBR for a while, Winterson is such a beautiful writer. Thanks for the review!

>34 spacepotatoes:: It was a really lovely book; I highly recommend it.

22. Kafka on the Shore

This book was stunning. Stunning. I started off a bit of a skeptic -- all that "I need to be the toughest 15-year-old" in the world stuff made me worried that the machismo would overwhelm me -- but the book won me over entirely. The characters are all sympathetic and interesting -- I especially loved Oshima, the librarian with a secret -- and the plot, though baffling and surreal at times, feels mysterious in the best ways, like it is getting at some deeper truth. Highly, highly recommended.

****

Ah, my favourite character was Nakata. Every time he talked to one of the cats I would just melt. I loved his simple, straightforward speech. All in all I enjoyed his story much more than the boy's. Although it did get all confusing and messed up towards the end with all that stone stuff.

Great review!
--BJ

>37 girlunderglass:: I loved Nakata! And I loved that he got his own sort of disciple by the end, there. The boy was so complicated with all the history he was embodying; Nakata was simpler.

23. The Graveyard Book

I adore Neil Gaiman, basically unreservedly, so my affection for this book is hardly surprising, but I did think it was quite good. It walked this marvelously fine line between being very unsettling and being a sort of children's fairy tale (though, of course, fairy tales are often extremely unsettling and bloody, so) -- Bod, the living boy raised in a graveyard, was an always sympathetic protagonist, but it wasn't surprising when his friends found him creepy. A lovely booth, full of Gaiman's characteristic cleverness.

*** 1/2

24. Shadowland

Pretty sure this book is called something different here in Ireland, but I'm too lazy to check. Oops.

My BFF has been pushing me to read The Mediator books for some time, and I kept protesting that I was tired of Meg Cabot after giving up on The Princess Diaries somewhere around book four or five. I'm glad I gave them a try. Suze Simon, the 16-year-old "mediator" who can talk with ghosts, almost slid into Sue-ish territory for me at times, with how well-liked she immediately is at school, but she is such a likable character and has just enough legitimate flaws that I'm willing to overlook it. I adore her violent streak. (It probably helps both that she reminds me a great deal of said BFF when she was that age, if she'd been a ghost hunter/helper, and that she was pitched to me as "what Bella Swan should be".)

Sexy ghost Jesse, whom Suze shares a room with in her new home in Carmel, works less well for me so far, and the plot, while exciting, was very episodic and not very well-developed. Still, it's clearly a "series" book, and I would be willing to see what Cabot does with Jesse in the subsequent books. It was a very fun read.

Also, oh my God, I think I want to live in Carmel now.

***

25. Anne's House of Dreams

Lovely brain candy, perfect for a weekend trip, though it does lose some of the tension now that Anne and Gilbert are blissfully wed.

***

26. The Liar

Of course this was witty and knee-slappingly funny and terribly pink and all the marvelous things that one would expect from the inimitable Stephen Fry, but ... well, I found something terribly affecting and sad about it as well, and went through much of it with a clenched heart. I have this problem with comedy writing sometimes of perhaps not being disaffected enough. Still, I loved the book.

*** 1/2

27. The Invention of Love

Really, it's Stoppard, it features Oscar Wilde, it's about an acerbic gay academic -- the chances of my not loving this play were slim. That said, I think I would benefit from a reread or from seeing the play in performance, to get a better handle of its twisty structure.

*** 1/2

28. Ninth Key

I'm continuing to enjoy this series -- that Suze is a peach. I actually think the plot in this venture, goofy though it may be, is significantly stronger (or at least more interesting) than that in the first book. A fun, fluffy read.

***

29. Gaudy Night

This was my first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, and I know it was wicked of me to start three books into the Peter/Harriet arc and to start with a book that barely brought the famous detective into it for the first two hundred pages, but this book was so good that I am hard pressed to feel very guilty about my misdeed.

This was, first off, one of the most satisfying romances I have ever read, despite not really strictly being a romance. It was a good mystery, but, frankly, I figured out the ending well before the wrap-up and in a lesser book would have been only mildly engaged in the whodunit aspect -- the mystery excelled as a vehicle for a thoughtful and still relevant exploration of the societal roles of woman, of the struggle to find a balance between head and heart. And that's where the romance comes in -- as much as this is a book about a series of crimes, it is also about Harriet Vane coming to terms with herself, figuring out that balance for herself, and seeing if a relationship can fit into it. There are certainly parts of this book that are a product of its time -- the specific brand of Freudianism appealed to by the characters, the jarringly pragmatic pre-war approach to Nazism (fascinating historically and surely an accurate presentation of warring views on fascism at the time, but still jarring), the newness and insecurity of female education -- but it was still a very feminist book, with a respect for its women scholars and their intellectual pursuits.

Um, basically, this book made me practically fall apart with glee. WHILE WATCHING APOCALYPSE NOW IN THE BACKGROUND. Just...awesome.

****

30. Morality for Beautiful Girls

Summer is apparently not good for my reading, when I'm not on vacation, nor on my keeping up to date on LibraryThing things.

This book I found just as enjoyable as the first two entries in the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series. This mystery is not so much a murders and mayhem, "Elementary, my dear Watson!" caper, and I like that about it -- these books are slower paced, more about the atmosphere and the very likable characters. I loved Mma Makutsi looking for more responsibilities and struggling with not being a "beautiful girl," with the different standards for the young, pretty, wealthy girls.

Always fun to pick up one of these books.

***

31. The Boy Detective Fails

I will cop to having read this book before, but I ADORE IT. ADORE IT. I think it is wonderful, and heartbreaking, and beautiful, and I could just read it over and over. I especially enjoy that, even as it is terribly sad, it also has a sense of fun and is ultimately uplifting. If you grew up with Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and (especially, and these were my favorites) Encylopedia Brown, this is an especially fun book.

Oh, I think everyone should read this.

****

32. My Most Perfect Year

I almost passed this book over, because from the cover it looked like a sort of generic teen romance, but one word caught my eye on the cover: "Fenway."

That was enough to turn it over and read the back, and discover that this was a book about (a) gay people, (b) classic film divas and musicals, (c) adorable parents, (d) sassy Hispanic girls, (e) politically conscious teens, (f) Mary Poppins, (g) parental figures and BFFs, and (h) THE BOSTON RED SOX. It was as if someone had scanned my brain, taken all the pertinent keywords, and made a book just for me.

The book itself was sometimes a little slower paced than I might have liked, and the writing didn't blow me away, but it was very charming and completely adorable. Right up my alley.

***

33. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

Okay, I've been pretty bad about posting (and reading) of late, swamped as I am...

This book was fabulous. I loved the historical detail, that it took place right around the corner from me, that even the most fantastic aspects of it felt so real -- kudos to Anderson to so well capturing each characters' voice without letting the exigencies of the historical period make them sound stilted -- and it gutted me at times, with its eviscerating look at race, science, slavery, and freedom.

I'm in the middle of the second one now, and loving it as well.

*** 1/2

34. The Beekeeper's Apprentice

What a charming book. King takes a risk in completely reinventing the classic figure of Sherlock Holmes, and Russell sometimes narrowly avoids 'Sue territory, but the quality of the writing saves her -- I really enjoyed her and Holmes' relationship. And look! Feminism!

I did have trouble getting through it at the beginning, with the constant Watson-bashing, but found it somewhat more palatable when he was only be condescended to. Holmes must be his friend for a reason, King.

***

I'm enjoying your reviews! I jumped into the middle of the Wimsey series, too, and haven't been reading them in order, but they're good any which way.

35. Magic's Pawn

La la la, I've been so bad about posting that I forgot that I read this book before Beekeeper's Apprentice, that's what happens when you work 52-hour weeks and then are a senior in college, la la la.

Okay, that's done.

I really enjoyed this book! My friends have been pimping Mercedes Lackey to me since middle school, and particularly the Magic's Pawn series (gay people = always the way to hook me on a book), but frankly I was surprised by how much I liked this. A lot of the high fantasy that my friends reveled in never quite did it for me. The book had a satisfyingly complex hero and a tight plot! The romance felt a little rushed and perhaps fed into certain tropes that I was uncomfortable with, but I mostly enjoyed it.

My main qualm was with the cover, actually -- a note to 1991: the main character of this book? Gay. Does he have powerful mage potential? Yes. Was that why his father sent him away from home? Nope. That would be because he is gay. His gay relationship prompted the majority of the action in the plot. Straight-washing is not attractive.

***

36. Coming of Age in Mississippi

A powerful look at the realities of growing poor and black in the pre-Civil Rights deep South, with a very interesting behind the scenes look at the grassroots college involvement in the movement (MLK and his ilk are pretty much side notes in this book). I tore through it.

***

I'm in too academic a place with Albee right now to sort my thoughts on these plays out in a paragraph -- honors thesis -- so I'll just skip over to...

39. Keeping You a Secret

This was a fun read, but suffered from slightly uneven writing and the occasional tendency of the LGBT young adult novel of trying to shove every possible experience into one book -- she gets kicked out! gay bashing! but this guy is supportive! true love! Also, I sympathized with the main character's problems, but found her judgmental (though she did grow) and sometimes unpleasant in her (understandable) stressed out state. The love interest was maybe a little too good to be true.

Not bad, but not great.

**

40. Freedom Bound

An excellent look at the Civil Rights movement. I read it for a paper I was writing, but didn't want to put it down even when it started moving into the Black Power movement and out of my area of focus.

***

41. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume II

A wonderful book. I think I slightly preferred the first volume, with its air of mystery and focus on the scientific society, but this was fantastic as well. The examination of the benefits of an American versus a British victory by somebody who did not see an American victory as preordained and who did not necessarily stand to benefit from one, who would not receive the liberty being fought for, was fascinating.

*** 1/2

42. A Delicate Balance

A fine play by Albee, slightly claustrophobic and paranoid with the daughter's fear of losing her place and the unnameable fear that overtakes Harry and Edna. I was especially taken by the sort of sad look at friendship, by the absence of a connection between Harry and Tobias, but Tobias' desire that they somehow fill the role of lifelong friends.

*** 1/2

43. The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

Well, aside from the few minutes that I spent sputtering, "spoiler redacted a goat!", much like the characters in the play, I actually really enjoyed this. Not only enjoyed it, but found it -- touching, in a way that Albee's plays aren't always. Messed up, yes. But touching. I liked the way it focused in on the liminal edges of what love is, the places where love can get blurred.

***

44. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

A very satisfactory entry in this thoroughly enjoyable series. Some good action, and I just love the characters -- Constance had some especially nice development this time 'round.

***

45. The Mediator: Reunion

Fun and light, like I like from my Mediator. Frankly, Michael was somewhat skeevier than I might have liked, but, you know. I'm pretty easy when it comes to these books.

** 1/2

I've read Who's Afraid too many times to be objective right now.

47. The Historian

I read this book in installments, over quite a long period of time, and I think it suffered for it. I enjoyed the story but was never as deeply invested in the characters or intrigue as I might have been. (Also, though I generally enjoy epistolary stories, I had trouble turning off my sense of disbelief in re: how long and thorough the letters from the main character's father were.) Still, a very enjoyable book and one that I think I might have devoured six years ago, while still buried neck deep in my vampire phase.

***

48. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

It's not just Pynchon; apparently I hate all post-moderny conspiracy theories in my books, and that was the part of this book that worked least well for me. Still, a fine, quirky book with a likable narrator, a very interesting family, and amazing marginals.

***

49 and 51 were recent rereads, so no new reviews for them. It's February, I gotta be done with 2009.

50. The Westing Game

Confession: I read and hated this book when I was in 4th grade, and spent much of my childhood disparaging it, to the point that it basically existed in my little brother's mind as the worst book ever.

I have no idea why. It's brilliant.

Aside from the mystery, which I loved, the characters are so much more interesting and deftly and maturely depicted than I appreciated at age eight. I especially liked forthright, driven Judge J.J. Parker and pretty, anxious Angela Wexler. Turtle is wonderful. The tensions and problems the characters dealt with felt real, but not over-stated, and often quite adult, in a way that wouldn't alienate the book's young readership. Awesome.

*** 1/2