RebeccaAnn's 2009 Reading

I feel like I'm at an BA (Bookaholics Anonymous) meeting :P

Hi, I'm RebeccaAnn, and I'm addicted to books. I have a To Be Read pile of roughly 200 books or so and this year, my goal is to read 75 of them. I know I'm posting late, but I just recently found out about LibraryThing. Anyways, here are the books I've already read this year:

1. Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
2. World War Z by Max Brooks
3. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
4. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
5. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
6. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
7. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

The books I'm currently reading are:

9. The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories by many different authors
10. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
11. The Terror by Dan Simmons

I'll post my reviews soon about the books I've read already and then as I finish more books, I'll review them as well!

Happy reading!

Welcome to the group!

You have a couple of my favorite reads from last year including in your list for this year, so obviously you have wonderful taste in books :)

BTW - You may as well plan now for the TBR pile to become Mount TBR in this group.

alcottacre,

What books did you like last year? So far, I think the best book I've read was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. It was silly, somber, uplifting, and heartbreaking all at the same time. And the book was nothing like what I usually read (I'm kind of a suspense/horror/mystery type girl with a healthy dose of classics thrown in) that I didn't think I would like it at all, but once I finished, I couldn't even start another book for the rest of the day. I had to just sit and think about Christopher and his life.

It was quite an amazing experience.

Book #1
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Rating: 8/10

There was so much buzz about Cornwell's new novel, Scarpetta, around Christmas-time that I decided it was finally time for me to start the series. After finally figuring out which book was the first one, I started reading Postmortem. It was good, but not great. I didn't really connect with Kay and there was nothing very different that would separate the Scarpetta series from all the other suspense/mystery series out there (Alex Cross, ABC mysteries, In Death series, etc etc). If there were a star system here, I would give it eight out of ten stars. I plan on reading a few more of the series since I own the first eight or so, but I think I'm going to read something else for awhile.

World War Z and The Terror both made my list of memorable reads for 2008.

I read Curious Incident several years ago. I know several people here in the group have read it more recently.

RebeccaAnn

Welcome to the group. I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime last year. I agree with you. It is a thought provoking book.

Book #2
World War Z by Max Brooks
Rating: 9/10

This book was recommended to me by a friend. While I wasn't prepared for the style the book was written in, I must admit it worked. The first third or so of the book was just plain terrifying and left me with goosebumps. The book lost one point because there were a few dry spots here and there, but none were long enough or dry enough to turn me away from the book as a whole. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good scare!

Book #3
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Rating: 6/10

One of the few instances in which I think the movie is better than the book. There wasn't much, I felt, in the way of relationship building between Tristran and Yvaine. It seemed like their growing love resulted in something along the lines of "And many months passed in which Yvaine grew very fond of Tristran." I saw the movie first, so maybe I was a bit biased, but I definitely felt the movie was more magical than the book.

Welcome to the group! Looks like you've made some good choices in your reading already this year. Mansfield Park is one of my all time favorites! I have to disagree with you, however, in that I much prefer the book of Stardust to the movie.

allthesedarnbooks,

Really?! Did you read the book first or watch the movie first? I know there are so many differences between the two they're almost completely different stories who happen to have characters with the same names. I guess I just found the book to be more impersonal than the movie, which in some respect makes sense because according to interviews with Neil Gaiman, the book was supposed to be a modern-day fairy tale. In keeping with the tradition of fairy tales (at least, the Grimm's fairy tales), they're not very personal and big on character development. They just kind of tell a story.

And I loved Captain Shakespeare who's not in the book at all :(

Welcome Rebecca
I am Anita and I am also a bookaholic ;-)

Like Whisper I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time last year, it was not the best book I read last year, but it was in my top 3.

Book #4
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Rating: 6/10

Unfortunately, not my favorite Jane Austen. The book seemed to drag in a lot of places and I was very disappointed in the lack of development in the relationship between Fanny and Edmund. He honestly didn't even realize he loved her until the last few paragraphs of the entire book. The book also had many dry spots in it that made me feel as if I was dragging myself through the mud in an attempt to reach the end.

Sadly, probably not a book I'll read again.

Book #5
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Rating: 9/10

A classic Christie novel and the first in the Hercule Poirot series, it kept me interested all the way through. I was completely blown away at the end by who the culprits were, which in Christie's works, I don't really mind.

Book #6
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Rating: 8/10

Not his best collection of short stories, but definitely good! It has a lot of emotional stories in it and a few terrifying ones (I'm thinking of The Cat From Hell). If you like Stephen King, chances are you'll like this book. My favorites were The Gingerbread Girl, The Cat From Hell, and A Very Tight Place.

Book #7
Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
Rating: 10/10

Amazing! I thought this novel was absolutely brilliant! There were so many subplots going on that I couldn't figure out what was going on. And as a bonus, I did figure out who the culprit was, though my reasoning was completely backwards. Still, a classic Christie!

Book #8
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
Rating: 10/10

I really, really liked this book. I think I even cried a little bit in parts, especially near the end. It was just heart-breaking to see this child's inability to communicate with everyone around him, especially when you knew he was hurting and couldn't figure out why. Of all the books I've read so far, this is my favorite.

Okay, I give up! It seems like everyone here is reading or has read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time! :D
I'm going to have to move it up my TBR pile (or mountain, or continent...)

Did anyone else notice that the books we are all reading tend to go in spurts? Ella Minnow Pea just went around our group recently, and now this book...
Great minds think alike, right?

>9 RebeccaAnn:, I read the book first, so maybe that was my bias? It was very fairy tale-like, which was great for me, and I liked that I was able to provide a lot of the details with my imagination. It was a simple, sweet story whereas the movie was more of a traditional fantasy epic.

>14 allthesedarnbooks:, That's true. The book was also more adult than the movie, in my opinion, but it went in spurts. The book would be fairy tale one moment, then there was a semi graphic sex scene, then it was fairy tale all over again. It was like Gaiman couldn't choose if he wanted the book to be YA or adult.

I'm starting to think I might just not be a fan of Neil Gaiman. I've read Coraline, Stardust, and Good Omens by him (and Terry Pratchett of course) and so far, the only one I've liked is Good Omens, which is hilarious. I own American Gods so I'll give Gaiman one more shot, but if I don't like that book, I think I might just not be meant to read his works. Sad, but it happens...

Welcome to the Challenge group, RebeccaAnn. Glad you found us, but watch out, this place is addictive! I also very much enjoyed The curious incident of the dog in the night time--I felt the author did an excellent job of creating the mindset of a high functioning autistic boy. A book I recommended on another thread while discussing this is The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon--a science fiction novel that addresses if we could cure autism--should we? She has a son with autism.

>15 RebeccaAnn:, Hmmm, I guess I don't remember the sex scenes very much. Probably a side effect of all the romance novels I read in my formative years, my mind just flits over them. I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan, but everybody has different tastes and that's what makes this group exciting. If you don't like graphic sex and violence, I might recommend skipping American Gods. It's one of those books that a lot of Gaiman fans don't like even, tho I love it. I would suggest, before you give up on him altogether, maybe trying his recent Newbery Award Winner The Graveyard Book, which was, IMO, fabulous.

Also in re to our tastes being slightly different, Mansfield Park is one of my all time favorites!

>17 allthesedarnbooks:, I don't think it was the sex or violence that threw me off. My favorite author is Stephen King :) For me, it just seemed out of place. Maybe that means I'll love American Gods. My roommate has The Graveyard Book, so I'll definitely have to give that a shot as well.

ronincats, The Speed of Dark looks really interesting! I'm definitely adding it to be TBR pile (which is slowly trying to take over my apartment!)

Hi RebeccaAnn,

I've added The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to my wish list. I've also "starred" your thread since your reading habits seem to be very similar to mine.

ETA I could not get through American Gods but I loved The Graveyard Book. I also may not be a Gaiman Fan, but I will try again with Neverwhere before giving up.

Is there a wish list feature on LT? I looked and couldn't find one, but in the past two days, I think I've added ten books or so to my list of books to read. It's a bit scary...

Welcome, RebeccaAnn--I, too, liked the film better than the book for Stardust, but I loved Neverwhere. I have American Gods on my home shelves, but it will have to wait for some freer time and after The Graveyard Book, which is part of my 999 Challenge. I also enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time very much, having read it with a book group several years ago. And I found The Terror by Dan Simmons riveting for most of the work.

Welcome!

#20 There is no wish list feature on LT yet, but has been requested by many.

When collections arrive (any day now!) one of the default collections is supposed to be a wish list. Search on topics for collections and you see much talking about the subject...

RebeccaAnn, I loved Good Omens and The Graveyard Book by Gaiman. I'm meh about American Gods, but the other book of his that I really love is Anansi Boys. I had to read it again, I enjoyed it so much.

I heartily second and third The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. Very different from her other work and taken from personal experience. I loved American Gods, but was more ambivalent about Anansi Boys.

>13 BookAngel_a:, Yay! I'm so glad other people are interested in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

So many good comments about The Terror, but I'm having the hardest time getting through it. I swear, at the end of every chapter, I have goosebumps on my arms and I'm seeing things move out of the corners of my eyes! It's making me paranoid and definitely living up to its name. It seems I can only read one or two chapters at a time before I lose my nerve.

Since we're on a Neil Gaiman run, I thought I'd bring up Coraline. I read it a little over a month ago and it thought it was alright except for the last couple chapters or so, which I thought were great (you know, the ones with the hand...) I read it so I could see the movie afterwards, but still have yet to go. Has anyone else seen it? Is it worth going to?

If you go to the movie Coraline, stay all the way to the very end. Worth it.

I think you have an interesting choice of books.....

I am reading Stardust now...I have not seen the movie, I will have to rent it. I read Coraline a few years ago, and thought it was interesting - I have not seen that movie either

I read Curious Incident a few years ago and loved it. You should try Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. It is a non-fiction book about life with Aspergers.

>28 jayde1599:, That looks like a fantastic read. It's been bumped up to the top of To Check Out From the Library Because I'm Not Allowed to Buy Books List (the glories of being a poor college student). Right now I have An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore and The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon waiting for me to finish the three books I'm currently reading.

Has anyone read An Inconvenient Truth? Is it good? I'm a big environmentalist and thought this would be a perfect read for me.

>30 RebeccaAnn:, I'm a poor college student, too! I utilize both the university library and the public library, and also use Bookmooch, which at least makes me feel like I'm not TOTALLY wasting my money when I go the bookstore and come back with five new purchases.

>31 allthesedarnbooks:

I love Bookmooch! It's the first place I go for books. Of course, I'm also trying to create some space on my bookshelves so I'm forcing myself not to mooch from anyone either. My book income is completely reliant upon gifts at the moment.

Got ya' starred now. Seen you post on a lot of my starred threads and your list is a good one.

Good luck with the Scarpetta series. I just picked up Postmortem after a very long search for a had copy of it. (Hard to find!) So, with the last Book of the Dead, those are the only two I haven't read. If you read them in a relatively contemporaneous way, you may see her voice change somewhat. I'll be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks for the comments on the new King collection. I am a "constant reader" and a big King advocate here on the 75'ers. Looking forward to it.

Checking your profile page, it seems you should have absolutely no time for reading, based on the demands of school!?!?!!?

>33 blackdogbooks:

*squeals*

A King fan! Stephen King is my favorite author. Ever. Period. Dean Koontz is good, Dan Simmons is very good, but no one can beat King IMHO. I still get goosebumps when I read the topiary scene in The Shining.

That said, I still have like 20 of his books to read, mostly because I'm one of those people who can't read two books in a row by the same author. I have to switch it up. That, and my King obsession didn't start until a couple years ago, when I finally sat down to read The Shining, and with an output like his, it takes awhile to catch up on the reading.

Sadly, I probably shouldn't have time for reading because of school, but usually it's I don't have time for school because of reading. It's a horrible philosophy and I don't advocate (I've spent many all-nighters writing a paper at the last minute because I got really into a book and had to finish it). Alas, though, I've been doing this for the last ten years or so and it's not likely to change...

And now I'm off to hopefully finish The Terror because I really want to read a King book and a Cornwell book!

Well, the King I haven't read are a few short stories here and there (he's hard to keep up with) and that collection you just read, Just After Sunset. The Shining is a favorite. Couldn't finish the movie for years (the Kubrick version) because of the twins asking Danny if he wanted to play. Then put the book down after getting only to the lady in the tub. Finally finished it a few years back.

Look forward to more King conversations.

Also looking forward to your thoughts on The Terror since you're almost done. I just picked up a copy because of all the positive reviews, especially alaskabookworm's review.

I think it's worth seeing the movie Coraline, if only because 3D is a novelty. It held my attention the whole time, which is actually saying quite a bit (I'm usually a compulsive watch-checker), and I wasn't even a huge fan of the book.

>35 blackdogbooks:

Oddly enough, I can't stand the Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining. So much is different from the book that it just drives me crazy. I prefer the other one (I can't remember the directer, but I know Stephen King was there helping out). I love King short stories. They are what got me interested in short stories to begin with.

>26 RebeccaAnn:: hello! I just had a Gaiman patch too, and read both Coraline and American Gods. I think maybe we had opposite reactions to Coraline: you like the bit with the hand, whereas for me that felt derivative - too much like a de Maupassant short story I was force-fed at school - and let down the rest of the book. I didn't exactly like American Gods - in fact, I'm still not really sure what I made of it exactly - and I found the sex and violence a bit too much for me, personally.

I really liked Stardust and Good Omens is my all-time favourite book.

Coraline the movie doesn't even come out in the UK until June or something.... although I have to say I'm not amazingly impressed by the posters. I like Dave McKean's original illustrations better.

>38 FlossieT:

It's FlossieT! I just sent you a John Grogan book through BookMooch! Crazy how people find each other on different sites...

I too adored Good Omens! I found myself laughing out loud in so many places, which is sort of a problem when you do most of your reading at work (I work at the library) and you're supposed to be quiet.

I love creepy, scary things. It's why I like Stephen King so much and probably why I liked the last bit of Coraline.

Well, you've made me want to read The Terror! Also, IMO, Postmortem isn't the best, so maybe you'll like others in that series better. My personal favorite is Cruel and Unusual. Oddly, I lost interest in the series several years ago, but I have fond memories of reading some of the earlier volumes.

A lot of constant readers don't like the Kubrick version of The Shining. I admit and was happy to see that the TV version was much more closely tied to the book. while Kubrick didn't stay close to the story, I thought he captured the feeling of the book just right, especially with Nicholson's awesome portrayal of a mind gone awry. So, I always thought there was something to be had in both versions.

>41 blackdogbooks:, As far as Jack Torrence goes, Nicholson was definitely scarier. I also remember liking Danny (I think that was his name - I haven't read The Shining for awhile and a friend is currently borrowing my copy) more in the Kubrik version while just finding him plain annoying in the other.

I guess if you take the book out of the equation, Kubrik's version is probably the better film, but I've always found it impossible to not compare a book and the movie that's made from it.

>40 profilerSR:, You should definitely read it! It's long, but there are very few, if any, dry spells, something I find rare in most 800 page books. Plus, Simmons is excellent at description. The Terror takes place in the Arctic and when he's describing the snow and the wind, I actually find myself shivering!

RebeccaAnn, I'm spending some time this evening catching up on the treads. Yours is one I've starred and am now going back to read the posts again.

Regarding #34, like you, I remember the description of the topiary in The Shining. As much as I admire Jack Nicholson's acting abilities, I think the movie was no where near as scary as the book.

Here is a link regarding where part of the movie was filmed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Hotel

>43 Whisper1:, Whisper1

That's really interesting! I now want to go to the Stanley Hotel, regardless of the fact that I have absolutely no reason to go to Colorado.

They show The Shining on a continuous loop on the guest room's televisions!

>39 RebeccaAnn:: thank you - I've just marked your book as 'received' as well, looks brilliant! I particularly like the close relationship between BM and LT. Glad you also love Good Omens. It's a real comfort read for me (tempted to crawl into bed with it right now actually as I've completely lost my voice and have been trying to corral three crotchety, squabbling kids without being able to speak above a whisper... possibly the definition of "futility"!!)

I've been and got a souvenir room number plate!!! The hotel is spooky all by itself!!! Estes Park, CO, where the hotel is built is a fun little town. The hotel was actually used for both movies, just in different places.

I live ten hours away from the hotel and I'm trying so hard to find an excuse to go that way and stay, even if just for one night!

Unfortunately, I'm still very poor. Perhaps with my leftover vacation money this year (I've been saving to go see my cousin's wedding in Georgia) I could afford a brief trip... :P

Book #10
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Rating: 5/5

The Terror is, first and foremost, a highly entertaining read and a fascinating story (based on truth!). It tells of the voyage of Sir John Franklin and his failed attempt to find the North-West Passage.

It's also a story of survival and how strong the desire to live really is. It's said the survival instinct is the strongest instinct experienced by any creature, and it's shared by all creatures, and The Terror reminds the reader of this. There were chapters that left me terrified, some that made me smile, and some that made me cry at the pure hopelessness of their situation, especially when one takes into account that a good portion of the story is true. In many ways, The Terror is very reminiscent of Lord of the Flies.

Personally, I loved all 766 pages of my edition. For such a large book, there are surprisingly few dry spells and I would find myself reading 100 pages or so before I would glance up at the page numbers (a habit I'm bad - I keep careful track of how many pages I've read). Simmons descriptions are so vivid you'll be able to picture the Arctic in your head with very little difficulty (I was actually shivering a couple times). I will most definitely be checking out some of Simmons other books in the future.

Have to get to The Terror this year. Picked up a copy due to alaskabookworm's recommendation. I hae heard very few negative comments.

The Terror sounds like a great book.

The Real Book #10 (The Terror should be book #9)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Rating: 4/5

I don't read a lot of youth fiction so when I do, I try to make it count. James and the Giant Peach begins with James Henry Trotter, an orphan living with his two horrible aunts (similar to Harry Potter's situation...) and one day, he is given some magic beans that he accidentally drops under a peach tree. Within a couple days, there is a giant peach sitting in James's backyard and when he goes inside, there are many interesting critters inside.

Thus begin his adventures.

I adored this story. I admit I went to it not expecting to really enjoy it but willing to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. James begins the story as a boy who's used to being abused (to put it bluntly) but has still managed to hang on to the innocence of childhood. Throughout his adventures, he matures and eventually becomes the leader of a group of overly large insects he originally thought were going to eat him for dinner.

In the end, during a beautiful moment of generosity, James shares his giant peach with every child in New York.

A lovely story with lovely illustrations.

And the interaction between Mr. Centipede and Mr. Earthworm is simply hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit.

I've recently discovered Dahl's books. His imagination was incredible! I agree, the discussions/arguments back and forth between the centipede and earthworm were hilarious.

Just chiming in on The Terror - it made my list of memorable reads last year, and I highly recommend it!

Book #11
An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
Rating: 3/5

I have a huge amount of respect for Al Gore and everything he is trying to do to make people more aware of global warming and it's harmful effects on our planet. That said, I felt this book could have been a lot better. There wasn't a whole lot of information in this book that I didn't already know, and he didn't go into a lot of depth on any of the topics. There were a lot of pictures, though, which was nice. Sometimes, a visual example can have more impact that even the most drastic of scientific calculations.

There was also little information given on what we can do to help stop global warming. He gives a few examples at the end, such as using fluorescent light bulbs and driving hybrid cars, but fails to even mention recycling or using cloth bags rather than the plastic grocery bags, ideas that are simple enough for everyone to take part in.

All in all, I like the idea behind the book, but I feel it's mostly meant for people who have little to no knowledge of the effects of global warming. I'm hoping Gore will come out with another book that explains the "inconvenient truth" in greater depth.

If you haven't already read it, you may want to try Hot, Flat and Crowded, which is more about solutions than the proving that climate change exists.

That looks like what I thought An Inconvenient Truth would be! Thank you so much for the recommendation, drneutron!

The Speed of Dark just arrived at my library! I'm excited to start reading it! I just have to finish the two books I'm currently reading at the moment. Sometimes I wish I were one of those people who only read one book at a time...

Luckily, next week is Spring Break! Other people go to Cancun or Florida, I curl and read. I have a very exciting life. :P

#57 Sounds like the perfect vacation to me!!!

12.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Rating: 5/5

Every once in a while, you read a book that makes you look back and reevaluate your life. For me, that book is The Jungle.

It was absolutely heart wrenching following Jurgis Rudkus, the main character, and his constant failed attempts to provide for his family. An immigrant from Lithuania, he came to America to strike it rich and marry Ona, the girl of his dreams. They, along with ten other members of their family, go to the stockyards of Chicago where they have heard that jobs are available for everyone.

What they didn't know is they would have to work fourteen hour days under horrible conditions to make enough to barely survive.

It's amazing how spoiled today's society is. I could never handle this type of work. The difference between now and a hundred years ago is staggering to behold. When reading The Jungle, it is obvious to the reader the luxuries available to them that were inconceivable back then.

And the losses that Jurgis had to cope with! He survived as he watched member after member of his family die. You see him at his strongest, his weakest, his cruelest. You are there, pitying him when he is forced to sleep under cars in the dead of winter and you are there, cursing him as he allows himself get sucked into the system, making his living off of the misery of others when he becomes a boss at one of the stockyards. You see how the misery finally trumps even the strongest soul. Every man has a breaking point, a point where he will do anything to survive.

Apart from being a real eye opener, Sinclair's prose is amazing. His descriptions of events and sights put you right in the middle of Chicago's stockyards. I didn't even notice when paragraphs went on for more than a page because I was so involved with every single sentence. The book opens with a wedding feast and you can smell the food and hear the laughter and music and see the couples dancing. When Jurgis first sees the inside of a stockyard, you are right there, witnessing the horrible sight. It's extremely powerful.

I usually never give a book five stars because so few are really, truly good. However, I don't think I could give The Jungle anything but five stars. This book makes me wish there was an option for a sixth star.

Wow! what a glowing review! must add it to by TBR - thanks!

Yes, I agree with girlunderglass, this is a powerful review...
I'll read this book soon.
Thanks!

>60 girlunderglass:, 61

I hope you both enjoy the book! I'm always worried when people take my suggestions as I know books speak differently to everyone. Personally, I can't recall off the top of my head a book that's affected me like The Jungle did. It was really an amazing (and different) experience to read a book that spoke to me on so many different levels.

Gotta get to this one someday soon. Great review and nice diversity to your list.

13.

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
Rating: 2.5/5

I'm going to start off this review by saying I was forced to read this book for a class, which is never the best way to find books you like.

That said, Castle Rackrent wasn't too bad. It was more boring than anything else. The book is being told as if Thady, the Rackrent's butler (for lack of a better word) were narrating to you out loud the history of the family. You go through four generations of Rackrents and learn about their good points and their bad, how some were good people but weak-minded and how one locked up his wife for eight years because she wouldn't give him her diamond necklace.

That's about it. An okay story, but it just seems there wasn't a point to it. I can appreciate what this did for literature as a whole, being the first Anglo-Irish novel and whatnot, and there were some very funny parts, especially the names of places (such as Crookaghnawaturgh, Gruneaghoolaghan, and Allyballycarricko'shaughlin, to name a few) but I doubt I would have read it if it wasn't for a class and I doubt I'll read it ever again.

Edited to fix the spelling of Allyballycarricko'shaughlin

I was looking at my first post and realized I had said my TBR pile is about 200 books. Taking a look at my inventory, my TBR pile is actually, at the moment, 314 books. Whoops! And that doesn't include all the library books I've checked out.

Man I wish I could read faster...

#65: Well, you can take comfort in the fact that my Continent TBR is over 3000 books. When it gets to be 5000, it is morphing into Universe TBR. I figure I will be there about June, lol.

O.O

Wow! Do you actually own all those books? Now I feel so pitiful with my measly 300 books sitting unread in my bookshelves.

#67: No, I do not actually own all of them (I own quite a few, but not all). I keep a running list and track them down as I can through libraries or buy the book if I cannot get my hands on it any other way or it is one I think I would re-read.

14.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
Rating: 4/5

MILD SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!!

To start off, this book can be very confusing if you don't understand a few key facts. First, the story takes place on sister planets (each one serves as the other's moon): Urras, which is the original planet, and Anarres, a planet populated by anarchists who rebelled against the Urrasti government. Second, the chapters bounce back and forth between the present and Shevek's (the Anarresti main character) life growing up, before he undertook the task of going back to Urras in an attempt to develop his Theory of Simultaneity and share it with all of the known intelligent life in the universe.

There is a lot going on with politics. Urras is made of two major nations, A-Io and Thu, obvious allusions to the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union respectably. Then there is Anarres, which is a socialist planet where everyone is dependent upon each other because the conditions of the planet are so harsh. There are only a few species of life on Anarres and if humans don't work together, the species as a whole will perish (a common phrase amongst the Anarresti is "no one eats while another starves).

The story begins with Shevek boarding the Mindful, a ship which will take him back to Urras. While there, he is bombarded with wants and desires he has never experienced, having come from a planet in which no one really owns anything because there is so little to be had. For the first time, Shevek has money and is able to have actual possessions. He gets sucked into the capitalist world and for almost a year, he does no work. His change of heart comes from seeing the other side of capitalism, the poorer side. The government, having kept Shevek boarded amongst the richer part of society, did not want an anarchist inspiring the poor to rebel. When Shevek sees the poor, he must come to terms with the fact that he has become what he most despises: a profiteer.

The Dispossessed is much more of a mental journey than a physical one. In fact, looking back at the book, there's not much action in it at all. However, I still found myself intrigued by the story. I could see this book being the source of heavy debate in the way it portrays socialism, capitalism, anarchy, and government as a whole (anarchy is greatly favored while government is scorned at) and while I can't agree with the idea of a total lack of government, I can see the pros and cons of both systems.

This is a good book if you really want to think, but not so much if you want a real page turner. It's a very confusing read, and I'll definitely be reading it again. There is no way I caught all the little details. The book has too much scope to take it all in the first read-through.

15.

Out of Danger by James Fenton
Rating: 3/5

I want to start of this review by saying I rarely read poetry, so this is coming from someone who read this book out of curiosity into the poetry genre.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this. I didn't understand quite a few of the poems (there were many references to names of places and things in other languages that I just didn't catch) and there were a few that went straight over my head. However, there were a few that really resonated with me and actually had me thinking about them for awhile, the most prominent of these being "Out of the East."

This collection had good variety to it. There were ballads, love poems, serious poems, sad poems, etc. For the most part, except for a select few poems, the language was easy to understand and the use of rhyme throughout most of the collection lent an almost song-like quality to the poems.

All in all, it wasn't horrible and I felt it was a good introduction to the world of (more or less) modern poetry.

16.

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie
Rating: 4/5

After reading The Terror, I found myself quite interested in the Franklin expedition and, having long found myself wanting to try out the nonfiction genre, I decided this was a perfect opportunity.

The book is very readable, presenting facts in an interesting way. There were plenty instances of humor that made me laugh out loud as the author related anecdotes of the researcher's mishaps (they seemed to have great fun playing pranks on one another). There were informative pictures that really helped me understand what was being said in the book.

The face on the front of the cover is that of John Torrington, the lead stoker on the Terror. There are also pictures of the other two bodies exhumed from their graves on Beechey Island. While I know this was done in the name of research and I don't mind it, I felt it was a bit derogatory to put the pictures in a book for all the world to see, especially Torrington's on the front cover. It's my own personal view on the subject, but I just found it a bit cheap.

Other than that, though, I really enjoyed my first venture into nonfiction. I also have a much greater respect for Dan Simmons. The amount of actual facts in The Terror is amazing. He created "the thing on the ice", but almost everything else came from facts. It made his book that much more frightening.

#71: I have read several books on the Franklin Expedition and I will check this one out as well. Thanks for the mention!

>72 alcottacre:, Do you have any other recommendations for books on the Franklin expedition? I have Ice Blink by Scott Cookman checked out from my library, but I was curious as to whether there were any other good books out there about this subject.

Arctic Explorations: the Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin by Elisha Kent Kane is the one that immediately springs to mind. The book is contemporary to Franklin, written by one of the men who was searching for him.

The Long Rescue by Theodore Powell would be another book about the expedition, but it is dated now in light of the relatively new findings regarding the expedition. Powell's book was written almost 50 years ago.

ETA: If you are interested in polar exploration in general, I found The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton to be excellent.

Hope this helps!

17.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Rating: 4/5

I've always been a big fan of the movie and didn't realize until only recently that it was based on a book. Honestly, I didn't expect this book to be that great as I'm usually skeptical about how much I'll enjoy a children's book, being an adult myself.

I loved this book. I knew the story, having seen both the Gene Wilder and the Johnny Depp version of the films multiple times. I still loved the book. I actually found myself getting a little teary eyed in some parts, such as when Charlie finally gets his ticket and Grandpa Joe gets up and dances. I was so happy, even though I knew it was coming.

I am beginning to love Roald Dahl more and more and will definitely continue to read more of his books.

Thanks for the review on the LeGuin book. Maybe that's not the one for me to try first, if I decide to try one.

Noticing your interest in the Frankling expedition. I think, though I need to check, Wilkie Collins' book The Frozen Deep is another fictional story inspired by that expedition. The book also eventually inspired a character in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I have been meaning to read it and it's been sitting here waiting for me. Perhaps when I pick up The Terror I will read them together.

Well, that'll definitely go on the TBR list! Maybe reading that will finally inspire me to try Dickens again. I've been meaning to give him another chance. High school just isn't the right place to try to introduce a writer like him, I'm afraid.

I hated Dickens for a very long time. Exposed to Great Expectations in the 8th grade.....too young, I think. Then I read A Christmas Carol a couple of years ago and loved it.....low hanging fruit really. So, I tried A Tale of Two Cities and have started to turn around. I am going to read more now because I think I am better suited to the task. The Frozen Deep is a very short book.

I was forced to trudge my way through A Tale of Two Cities in the ninth grade. Oh how I hated that book. But, in the past ten years or so, I feel I've matured a lot as a reader and Dickens is one of the authors I'd like to have a go at again. I was actually thinking of making this summer a "Dickens summer" and trying to get through as many books as I could, provided I enjoyed him. Haven't quite decided if I like the idea or not, though.

#79: We are going to be doing a group read of Bleak House starting June 15th. Please join in!

Stasia
May I join in the group read of Bleak House. I've wanted to read this book for awhile and a group read will prompt me to do so.

Thanks.

Sounds fantastic! I'd love to join in. Is this over in the group Group Reads - Literature?

RebeccaAnn and blackdogbooks--I also had very bad experiences with Dickens in high school. Then I read a few of his books in a course on Victorian Literature in college and I loved him. So I really hope you continue reading Dickens--he is one of a kind. I'm not sure whether Bleak House is the place to start, though it would certainly be fun to read along with others.

Ahh, too many more books on my wishlist. I shouldn't look at any more threads! Unfortunately, I've now starred this thread so I can't run away now.

#81/82: Linda & Rebecca, I will be posting a topic here on the 75 Books Challenge group around June 1st. Just keep an eye out for it. Everybody is invited to join in, just like the other group reads currently going.

I'd really like to join the read as well as I really struggle to read Dickens and I think that if I did it as a group read, I might have a chance! I'll look out for the thread

Definitely. I'll be marking it on my calendar just to make sure I don't forget! Thanks for letting us know, alcottacre!

Looking forward!

18.

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Rating: 3.5/5

The book follows Lou Arrendale, a thirty-something autistic man who has been offered an experimental cure to his autism. He must decide whether or not he will accept himself as he is, autism and all, or if he would rather go through with the treatment and hopefully become "normal".

I enjoyed the book for the most part. Lou was a very engaging character and seeing the world through his eyes was a learning experience. At times, I felt like the author wasn't giving us much from the supporting characters, but from what I learned from the book, autistics do not enjoy socializing with people so much (I could be wrong as I have no personal experience with autism). It was sad, seeing as how hanging out with friends is an activity I greatly enjoy, but it worked for Lou and he was happy.

So why did I only rate this 3.5? I can't really say I agree with the ending. I don't think I can go too much into it without giving it completely away, but I was surprised at the action Lou took. I could see it being a very controversial topic and would greatly enjoy discussing it with anyone on a different thread.

19.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Rating: 5/5

I am truly stunned by this book. One fantastic, exciting, swashbuckling adventure packed up neatly into 500 pages that go by much too quickly. I'm not usually one to read series as I tend to find them dragging, but I am very glad this is only the first book in a series, even if said series is incomplete. I could not put this book once I was about 100 pages into it. I'm addicted to Locke and his friends and cannot wait for the next book to come to me in the mail. It cannot get here quickly enough.

For those who don't know what the book is about, Locke Lamora is a thief and leader(garrista) of a little band of thieves who call themselves the Gentlemen Bastards. Locke inadvertently gets tangled up in a conspiracy much larger than himself and much to his surprise, he finds himself playing the unwilling hero to those who wish him dead for all the gold he's stolen.

While I don't really think this is fantasy, nor would I consider it sci-fi, it's definitely reminiscent of the two genres. The Lies of Locke Lamora is a fresh, very new take on the whole hero-must-save-the-world spiel. If you enjoy fantasy and adventure, this is must read (and then a reread, and then another reread...)

Wow, nice review. You've convinced me to add The Lies of Locke Lamora to my TBR pile.

oooh, that sounds good!

>91 loriephillips:, 92, I think you'll really enjoy this book. I haven't had so much fun reading a book in a long time. I felt like a little kid. There were times I was so excited I couldn't sit still while I was reading!

It sounds really exciting! Even though I'm not much of a fantasy/adventure fan, I'll add it to my TBR pile too!

#93 I even like the way the title sounds, it kind of rolls off the tongue! :)

I'm really looking forward to finding this and reading it, it is on the Must Read list in my head.

ok, add me to the list of people who like the sound and description of this book. I'm adding it to the tbr pile.

Thanks RebeccaAnn!

I will add it to the Continent, too. Thanks for the great review and recommendation!

You're all very welcome!

I checked this out from a library and then bought it used online about half way through the book. I finished it, though, before my copy could get here and now I'm wishing I hadn't returned the library's copy. I keep finding myself wanting to go back and reread the most exciting, intense passages.

One thing I thought I should mention as I forgot to do so earlier when leaving my review is the adult nature of this book. I found it in the YA section of my library but it is most definitely adult material. Locke lives in a society that hangs orphaned children for stealing without batting an eye. He himself is the cause of two accidental deaths by the time he is ten. Throat slitting is an everyday occurrence in Camorr. One of the most popular sports in the book is an activity in which women fight the sharks that, once enraged by blood in the water after having been starved for days, will jump out of the water and attack the women where they stand on small platforms. The women must either kill the shark or the shark will kill them (if possible, this is like a bloodier version of bullfighting). It's a very brutal society.

It's a credit to Scott Lynch's ability as an author that he can take a world like this and insert enough snide comments, sarcastic remarks, and lovable characters to keep you laughing throughout the whole book. And despite the savageness that's depicted here, it doesn't seem to be that bad while you're reading the book. It's when you get to the end and think back on the story that you realize how easy this could have gone from a fun, swashbuckling adventure to a horror novel.

I still loved the book. I still want to reread it. And I definitely still want to keep reading the series. I just thought I should mention the dirtier side of the novel as I believe I left that out of my review entirely. I really hope this doesn't turn anyone away from The Lies of Locke Lamora as it is still a great book. The imagery is amazing (almost cinematic at times), the characters are addicting, and the story itself is amazing, though a bit tragic at times. It still has my highest recommendations!

RebeccaAnn

You confirm my feeling regarding YA books. I'm reading a lot of them this year and I still don't know what constitutes a YA book. After reading many, I find that many contain very adult like material.

I hoe to read The Lies of Locke Lamora soon and appreciate your additional comments.

>100 Whisper1:, I'm glad you're still interested in the book. I just know, however, that some people have a real aversion to violence and I felt a warning was appropriate.

I agree with you about the content of YA books. I used to consider them below me. I thought YA was a genre that was too immature for my reading abilities. I read nonfiction and Faulkner, not books meant for children. I have since taken notice of my grave error.

My (old) views of YA seem to be being proved wrong repeatedly. It's just a different style of reading. I would never compare Bach to John Cage because their styles are so completely opposite it would be almost impossible to make a comparison, other than their both amazing in their respective styles of music. Likewise, I can't really compare Roald Dahl to Dickens. Both are good, but in completely separate ways. Besides that, YA and children's literature can be surprisingly adult at times.

With that said, Whisper1 I have a question for you. I know you're going through the Newbery winners like I go through a box of chocolates (:P) and I was wondering if you'd read any of the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I know one or two of the five book series won the Newbery award. It's a series I've been looking at for awhile and if you had read it, I was curious as to what you thought of it.

EDIT: I just realized my thread has reached 100 posts! Very exciting!

RebeccaAnn, you might want to consider membership in the two-thread gang. Stasia annointed me and she has since moved along to three threads, and now quite possibly she is reading heading for four!

I appreciate your well written comments/thoughts on YA books. This is a genre I never explored until Anita (Famultsee) lead me in this direction. I am ever so glad she did.

I haven't read, or heard of the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper, so, thanks for mentioning this. I'll put these books on my tbr pile.

My copies are coming to me in the mail and should be here within two weeks. Maybe we could form a sort of group read (if anyone's interested, that is). I've read many good reviews about the series and the books seem relatively short, so it wouldn't be a lot of heavy reading.

Is anyone interested? The first book of the series is Over Sea, Under Stone.

Edited because I can't spell "sea" :(

count me in. I'll be traveling to my library tomorrow to obtain the books.

Lorie Phillips read the whole series recently, and there are a lot of comments from a bunch of us as well as her reviews on the thread Lorie's books for 2009, from January 31 through March 3rd. It's a great series. The second book is one of my "perfect" stories.

After finally finding her ratings on her thread (my, she has a lot of posts!), I've even more excited to read the series. She rated them high enough that I want to start them right away!

I hope you enjoy them Rebecca! They are worth the read.

20.

A Different Kind of Sentinel by Sir E.J. Drury II
Rating: 1/5

It pains me to say this, but I very much disliked this book and couldn't finish. At 120 pages into it, I simply couldn't go any farther.

This memoir of a man struggling to keep his humanity and eventually reunite with his soul, all the while dealing with horrible circumstances such as an abusive, alcoholic stepfather and the harsh living conditions of one in the Navy seemed too good to pass up. Unfortunately, the book itself didn't match the potential.

To begin with, the writing is inconsistent and unrealistic. At times, the narrator speaks in a very natural language, using "ya" instead of "you" and other various little details which I felt captured the everyday dialect well. However, the narrator's language when speaking would go from natural to overly done, long winded, extremely poetic speeches which I just cannot imagine anyone who grew up in an abusive household, repeatedly skipped classes during high school and was expelled from more one college, and spent a majority of his time amongst the foul-speaking Navy, would actually say. An example of one of these speeches is:

Since time immemorial have we fallen for this lie, that our future lies hidden within our material progress. And yet, in our pursuit of this delusion, we've only succeeded in impoverishing the earth of its people. Thus have we helped to create a bipolar world, consisting of the haves 'n' have-nots, who have further polarized themselves over the issue of materialism by squaring off on either side of an iron curtain into two heavily armed, ideologically opposed camps or isms.

This is only one paragraph of a speech that continues on for roughly two pages made by a man (not the narrator) who has been in the Navy for quite some time. The narrator (whose name is Eodor, Butch, Dury, or Drury depending on where you are in the book - this point was never quite cleared up before I got fed up) speaks in the exact same style. Now, I know there are some people out there, usually those who spend many, many years in school getting an English degree of various levels, who actually do speak like this. My teacher does. But two Navy seamen? I highly doubt it.

Drury also has these visions throughout the novel. These are extremely vivid. At one point he believes to have actually walked on water to save a drowning girl who he later discovers was actually his soul. He had been on watch during a torpedo exercise and his soul had distracted him from noticing the torpedo heading his way and therefore, somehow saved his humanity. His soul does this many times throughout the book, mysteriously appearing, visible only to Drury, and by doing something that distracts him from his duty and gets him in trouble with his superiors, saves his humanity. He never questions his sanity when having these visions, though, because somehow, he knows that it is his soul talking to him.

Also included in the book are an old Japanese woman who speaks a little bit of English and sent to him by his soul, excessive, uncontrollable masturbation (which he suffers from because he doesn't listen to his soul), a mysterious She Who Must Be Obeyed and her counterpart, the Great Gray Whore (I think this is the Navy but I'm not sure), and his protest of the Navy's "animalistic" behavior, which is to starve himself for three weeks.

Now, I know that may not make much sense, but that's kind of how the book goes. It throws random visions/dreams/fantasies at you and never really gets around to explaining them. The book just wandered around. Maybe it resolves itself in the end, but I can't get there. I just can't.

OK, one not to add to the Continent. Thanks for putting up with it as long as you did to warn the rest of us about it!

21.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: 2.5/5

I've been a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's film adaptation of this book for quite awhile and sadly, I think I prefer the film to the book. Perhaps it's because I listened to the audiobook rather than actually read the book, but I feel the book lacked the passion of movie. I felt none of the growing attraction between Sophie and Howl that is in the movie and I felt the characters as a whole were much more shallow and negative.

The premise of the book is Sophie has been put under a spell by the Witch of the Waste, having been mistaken for one of her sisters. In order to get rid of the spell, she decides to search out the local wizard, Howl, in hopes that he might be able to help her. Unfortunately, she first makes a deal with the fire demon, Calcifer. He will help her get rid of her spell if she can break the contract that's between him and Howl. She stays in the moving castle, passing as a housekeeper to earn her room and board.

The book has some hilarious moments and there weren't really any dry stretches, I just didn't think the book had anything very special about it. It was just okay, in my opinion. I'm glad I read the book. It gave me a different perspective on the story as a whole (and really, the book and the movie are very different in many regards), but this most definitely isn't a book I'll consider rereading.

>109 alcottacre:

Yes, I would heartily recommend staying far, far away from that book. It was a very disappointing read.

22.

Pureheart by Rita Hsu Syers
Rating: 1/5

Where have all the good books gone? I've been getting nothing but duds after my wonderful experience with The Lies of Locke Lamora!

Sadly, this is yet another book I could not finish. It had an interesting premise. Four teenage girls, performing what they believe to be a fake, silly ritual, end up summoning a demon more evil than Satan himself. With something that dark running about, how can life as we know it continue to exist?

The answer is simple. Jack will save us. The only problem with this is the fact that Jack is a dog. A pureblood Boston Terrier, born from his mother who had previously been spayed (somehow, her uterus had regrown) and without any male partner to impregnate her. Jack is the Healer, who will be able to battle this demon.

To help Jack his is sister (another Boston Terrier), Scout, who is the Warrior. But don't be fooled. This dog is an archangel, reborn into our world to help slay the mighty, evil demon.

Beyond this slightly outlandish plot, there is the horrible, cliched dialogue between unrealistic characters. Characters aren't individuals, they're stereotypes and it's unbearable to read.

The animals talk to each other. Jack and Scout frequently hold conversations with Sasha, the pig. Jack, who runs the farm his human family lives on, at one points convinces another dog from a neighboring farm to not eat a piglet. Instead, he will give the dog (who's name is Moose) his own dinner instead. I felt like I was reading the holy version of Charlotte's Web.

Also in the book are talking foxes, drunken Irishmen, and ducks committing suicide. Some of the chapters are told from the animals' point of view, some from the humans. Jack glows at some points, usually when he's doing something "God-like". For instance, at one point a girl injures her arms and he licks the cut, therefore healing it. His entire body glows when this happens. Nobody (and I mean nobody) questions this insane occurrence. Whenever someone finds out about Jack and his ability to serve as a light bulb when needed, he/she also never questions it.

The book is way too absurd and unrealistic.

Sorry your recent reading has been so terrible! I hope your next book is an improvement (though judging by the 1/5 score on the last one, I do not see how it could help but be better).

ah, I am sad you didn't enjoy Howl's Moving Castle - it's one of my favourite childhood books! Of course, this means that I have all sorts of cosy associations with it, so that may have something to do with it... I did enjoy the film - and particularly what he did with the Witch of the Waste, but I confess, I didn't like the film's version of Howl.

>114 flissp:, I think a big part of why I didn't like the book so much is because I saw the movie first and I listened to it on audiobook. I have a much harder time keeping track of the story when I listen to it rather than when I read it. Part of me feels I should go back and read the actual book before I give it a permanent rating in my mind and I'll probably end up doing that, just not at the moment.

>113 alcottacre:, Yes! I'm reading two amazing books right now. Ice Blink by Scott Cookman is a fantastic nonfiction read about Franklin's failed Arctic expedition and Carrie by Stephen King, which I've read before but is still excellent!

23.

Ice Blink: the tragic fate of Sir John Franklin's lost Polar expedition by Scott Cookman
Rating: 4/5

It says something about a nonfiction book when you have a hard time putting it down. But this book was amazing. It's in a much more readable style than Frozen in Time was, and it focused exclusively on the Franklin expedition and the probable factors in its fate, whereas Frozen in Time focused mostly on exhuming the bodies of the three men found on Beechey Island and learning what they could from the bodies.

There are times when Cookman seems to over-dramaticize(sp?) things he couldn't possibly have known. He describes Goldner sipping fine wine, cozy next to a warm fire, while the men on the Terror and Erebus freeze and suffer from botulism due to his tainted canned goods, or Crozier deserting his ship with tears in his eyes.

Other than that, though, I found this book highly enjoyable and at a few points, terrifying (the chapter on the possibility of cannibalism will likely give me nightmares). I have purchased both Ice Blink and Frozen in Time. I'd like to reread the books and write in them, something I can't do with my library copies.

All in all, if you're interested in polar exploration or the Franklin expedition, I highly recommend this book.

I am definitely interested and will certainly look for it. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

overdramatise / overdramatize ;)

That does sound fascinating - probably have to add this to my non-fiction list!

overdramatise / overdramatize

Ah, now I can bask in the warmth of a correctly spelled word ;-)

...it's my mum's fault... ;)

24.

Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl
Rating: 4.5/5

What a delightful little collection of creepy stories! I adored this book and was hooked from the very beginning. My experience with Dahl as an author is limited, but I honestly wasn't expecting this to be that good. And I must admit, while none of the stories kept me up at night, a few certainly sent a nice little shiver down my spine.

The stories are as follows:

SKIN: A greedy group of art dealers want a piece of artwork that belongs to Drioli. This piece of art is all he really has left of both the artist (a friend from when he was younger) and his wife (who was the model). What's the catch? The piece of art is a tattoo on his back.

LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: A woman murders her husband and disposes of the murder weapon by literally feeding it to the investigating officers.

THE SOUND MACHINE: A man creates a machine that will allow him to hear the sounds made at so high a frequency they are inaudible to human ears. Unfortunately, he comes to the horrifying revelation that plant life can also feel when he hears the screams of roses from a bush that is being trimmed. Can you imagine what a wheat field during harvest must sound like?

AN AFRICAN STORY: The milk of a farmer's cow is being stolen in the middle of the night. When the owner stays up one night, he has quite a fright when he sees who, or should I say what, the culprit is. He then decides to use this to his advantage.

GALLOPING FOXLEY: William Perkins sees his school bully one day on the train. The story is a reminiscence of all the horrors Foxley, the bully, put Perkins through. The ending on this one left me a bit confused though.

THE WISH: Have you ever played the game as a child where you can't step on the floor because it's lava or snakes or something to that extent? What if you were right?

THE SURGEON: Not a creepy story, but definitely entertaining. Some kids break into the house of a surgeon while he is on vacation and ransack the place after drinking all of the alcohol. Afterwards, he comes to wish he hadn't swallowed that piece of half melted ice...

DIP IN THE POOL: On a cruise, the passengers aboard make bets as to how much distance the boat will travel in a day. When one man realizes that the boat is going to go farther than he reckoned, he goes to extreme lengths to slow it down.

CHAMPION OF THE WORLD: The funniest story in the book. Two hunters experience an unwelcome surprise when the drugged pheasants they illegally poached begin to wake up in the middle of the city...

BEWARE OF DOG: Perhaps the most confusing story in the book but once understood, you realize it's a masterpiece in deception. An English fighter pilot, on the brink of death to the untreated loss of a leg, abandons his plane. When he wakes up, he's in an English hospital...or is he? The nurse and doctors are acting a bit suspiciously.

MY LADY LOVE, MY DOVE: A snoopy couple decide to microphone the room of a husband and his wife when they stay for a visit. They learn an interesting secret about this couple's way of playing bridge, then decide to try it out for themselves.

Much thanks to Whisper1 for making this book known to me!

RebeccaAnn
I love your review! You did an excellent job of explaining the stories.

My favorite was the sound machine. And I think An African farm was the scariest.

I'm glad you liked the book.

Skin and Other Stories sounds just creepy enough! I have read Lamb to the Slaughter many times - it is a story that is often taught in grade 9 English in Ontario. I actually taught it earlier this year, and my students loved it!

>123 Whisper1:, I'm glad you liked my review! I enjoyed The Sound Machine too. I can't say it was my favorite as I don't think I have a favorite (they were all so good!), but it stuck with me. It was one of those stories that when I read it, I didn't think too much of it but once I stopped reading and went about my daily life, I couldn't get it out of my head.

Even though I didn't understand it completely, I found The Wish to be extremely scary. The mother calling out for her son at the end actually made me put the book down. I think the openness of the ending just made it all the more frightening. I can't tell if it was real or just the boy's imagination.

I have another one of his anthologies of short stories coming. It's called Tales of the Unexpected, which sounds like it's right up my alley.

I didn't know about Tales of the Unexpected, or if I did, I forgot. I'll see if my library has this one. Thanks for mentioning it.

#125/126 I read Tales of the Unexpected years ago - I think that it contains quite a few of the stories RebeccaAnn has listed above - I definitely recognised your descriptions of "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Sound Machine" - RebeccaAnn, your review did make me want to go and root the book out again!

I read (actually listened to on audiobook) Dahl's Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying in February and both An African Story and Beware of the Dog were part of that collection as well. I liked Beware of the Dog more than An African Story, especially the ending, when you finally realize what the significance of the title is. :) The thing is, that collection was not as varied as the one you read: most, if not all stories, were centered around one theme (flying) whereas the tales in Skin and Other Stories seem to be quite different from one another. I might try this one as well.

On Amazon, I found The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl used for about $15 (that includes shipping). I'm thinking about purchasing that and just having all his short stories in one giant book (I think it was about 800 pages long)...

#129: Well, if nothing else, it should be good for weightlifting, doorstop, any number of things I am sure . . .

I think it would be handy in case a burglar ever broke in. Imagine getting hit on the head by a really big, hardcover book...

Little paperback books work great as paper weights and propping up lopsided tables (you know, those that have one leg that is short than all the other three).

:P

RebeccaAnn

hummmm...
Imagine getting hit on the head by a really big, hardcover book...

sounds like "Skin"...

I'm trying to be funny....

RA, Is that edition of the collected stories Roald Dahl the Everyman's Library hardcover edition? If so, it's a thin paper edition and they are very manageable to hold and read. Even with a thousand pages. I like 'em for that reason.

>133 VisibleGhost:, The one I was looking at was a Penguin book. I don't know if it's the same one as the Everyman edition. I think they'd be the same...

#134- I think Everyman's Library and The Modern Library are imprints of Random House. Some bookstores carry them and some libraries also do. Their hardcovers are usually thin paper editions while some of the paperbacks are not. Anyway, enjoy the edition you end up with. Those many-paged editions do end up being cheaper than buying several of the smaller collections. Since there has been a lot of Dahl talk around here I'm going to have to get a Dahl collection. The one I have on my wishlist is the Everyman's edition. Collected Stories (Everyman's Library) They also have an Alice Munro collection called Carried Away I've put on there because I haven't read anything by her and she's been mentioned a lot. OK, I believe I have the editions I have on my wishlist touchstoned correctly.

Oh, before I forget, I got a kick out of the first two Gentleman Bastard- or is it Gentlemen Bastards- books. I can never remember. I did like Locke more than Red Skies. Probably because he only gets to grow up once.

25.

Carrie by Stephen King
Rating: 5/5

I've always believed that the true test of a good book comes when one rereads it. Many books are good the first time, but old and stale during a reread.

Carrie passes the test with flying colors. I read this book less than a year ago and still found myself holding my breath in parts and in one instance, fighting off tears. Even though this was his first book, Stephen King still has the power deliver a swift punch to the very core of your emotional center, where it hurts the most.

For those of you who don't know the story, Carrie White is a high school senior with the power of telekinesis. Having been raised by her religiously fanatic mother, she's been the butt of every joke of the town since she first started attending elementary school. Because of this, her self esteem is low and her mind is permanently damaged by years of abuse, both at home and at school.

However, when she is invited to the prom by her crush, Carrie believes things are finally looking up for her. Tommy Ross is a nice boy and means her no harm. Another student does, though, and with this final prank, Carrie goes over the edge and decides to enact her revenge on a town that's done nothing but torment her.

I know Stephen King is known as the "King of Horror", but I honestly feel Carrie is more of a tragedy that a horror book. Yes, there were parts that made me shudder. King takes you into the mind of Billy Nolan, a young man who I believe is a slight sociopath, Chris Hargenson, a spoiled girl who wants nothing but to hurt Carrie because she received a detention after being caught playing a prank on the unsuspecting girl, Margaret White, the example of how some people can take religious mania to a frightening level, and Carrie White, a young girl who desperately wants to fit in, but all the odds are stacked against her. However, due to the format of the book, you know from the get-go what's going to happen at the end. Despite this, you spend the entire book hoping that things will turn out all right. You can't help rooting for the characters.

King's strength, in my opinion, has always been his characters and how he gets into their heads. Even the most horrible characters in the books are simply products of their environment and you feel for each and every one of them. That is what makes this such a powerful, and frightening, book.

Nice reveiw!

*blushes*

Why, thank you!

#136: Great job on the review!

26.

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
Rating: 3/5

One of the best thing about Agatha Christie's mysteries are they are almost interactive. You spend the entire novel constantly changing who you think the culprit is. Every clue is given to you and yet, at the end, Christie still manages to dupe you.

This collection of short stories, however, didn't allow that type of guesswork. Rarely was the reader provided with all the clues necessary to solve the case. A lot of time, a necessary clue was given after Poirot had already solved the case for us. It was a bit disappointing.

Granted, Christie's schemes were still brilliant and there were a couple fascinating stories in here. My favorites were The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, and The Chocolate Box (the first Christie book/short story in which Poirot actually fails to figure out whodunnit).

So while many of the scenarios were entertaining and fun to read, I missed the chance to solve the case myself. I would still recommend this book for die hard Agatha Christie lovers out there who want to read all of her books (like me) but a casual reader might want to just skip this book.

>136 RebeccaAnn:: I've always believed that the true test of a good book comes when one rereads it.

-- So true. I don't re-read much any more, but back when I did, I gathered much evidence to support this statement!

27.

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Rating: 5/5

Despite how much I loved this book, I'm glad to be done with it. Now, I'll finally be able to sleep again :P

Scott Lynch has done it again in his sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Locke and Jean have been tricked into serving the archon of Tal Verrar, Maxilan Stragos, and are on a new adventure. This time, while attempting to pull of an extremely large heist on the most famous gambling house in Tal Verrar, they must also figure out a way to start a war. Stragos, head of the city's navy, has been losing his power with no one to fight. He's nearing the end of his life and decides to go out with a bang. He wants the people of Tal Verrar to remember that they need him and so employs an unwilling Locke and Jean to go to sea and bring a fleet of pirates ready to attack Tal Verrar. Stragos will then slaughter the pirates and be remembered as a hero. Locke and Jean, of course, decide to make things difficult and deceive everyone, all the while attempting to rob everyone blind.

The brief summary may sound a bit confusing (and it doesn't do the book justice at all), but with almost 800 pages to the book, there are lots of twists and turns that make it too intricate to properly summarize but rest assured, it's nearly impossible to put this book down once it's started. The writing is phenomenal and the imagery - well, it's damn cinematic at times. The final battle took my breath away.

And of course, Lynch had again created fantastic characters that are so vivid you can almost see them moving on the page. Lynch doesn't shy away from creating strong female characters either. The captain and first mate of the pirate ship, Poison Orchid, seem to make it their hobby of getting the best of our protagonists.

This is an amazing book. It's exciting, visually stimulating, and touches all your emotions. I was left laughing in many places (including the surprise twist in the epilogue) and a couple scenes almost left me in tears. I will say I thought the ending felt a tad rushed, but I enjoyed this book regardless. It ends on one hell of a cliffhanger though! I will definitely be awaiting the next in the series, to be released in a few months!

#142: Looks like a very good series! I will have to check it out.

I hope you do! It's a very fun series to read!

>142 RebeccaAnn:: I've been saving Red Seas Under Red Skies for that moment when I just need something fun. I loved the first one.

I'm in the middle of The Lies of Locke Lamora and I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait to read Red Seas Under Red Skies! It's good to know that it's an on-going series. Thanks for the review.

>145 TadAD:, I wanted to save the second book until the third one was out, but I just couldn't wait anymore. My copy was just sitting on my bookshelf, calling out to me. "Reeeead me, reeeead me," it said. So I did!

Since everyone else is doing it (I love conforming :P )...

Copy the questions into your own post and answer the questions.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Stephen King - 55 books

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
The Hobbit

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Jean Tannen (The Lies of Locke Lamora) and Roland Deschain (The Gunslinger)

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Probably the first few Harry Potter books. I was obsessed when I was younger and for about five years in a row, I would read books 1-4 at least six or seven times.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Probably the Animorphs series

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
New Moon

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Hmm...that's a hard one. I'd say the best classic I've read is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and the best (and newer) novel I've read is The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Oh geez, I don't have a clue. Peope are too different to chose just one book.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I have no idea.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I would like to see The Lies of Locke Lamora made into a movie but the book is huge and dense, I don't think they could do it justice. Ditto for Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Would love to see it, but I doubt it would be any good.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I don't really have an answer for this. If there's a movie I don't want to see, I just won't go.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I can't think of any at the moment. I'll get back to you...

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Twilight

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Gothic literature is hard for me to get through. I'm really struggling through Frankenstein right now. Dickens can be hard too.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I haven't seen many, but some classmates acted out a scene from Timon of Athens. Does that count?

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Haven't read much Russian literature, so I guess the French.

18) Roth or Updike?
Haven't read either

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Haven't read either

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare, but with Chaucer as a close second.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen. I haven't read anything by Eliot.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Nonfiction. I'm just starting to read nonfiction so it's a pretty big gap.

23) What is your favorite novel?
Three Musketeers

24) Play?
The Importance of Being Ernest

25) Poem?
At the moment, just about anything from Dylan Thomas

26) Essay?
Haven't read enough to say.

27) Short story?
Just about any of the ones by Stephen King. They never fail to give me the shivers.

28) Work of nonfiction?
Ice Blink by Scott Cookman or Frozen in Time by Owen Beattie. I'm currently obsessed with the failed Franklin expedition.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Stephen King

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephenie Meyer

31) What is your desert island book?
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

32) And... what are you reading right now?
Oh man, like seven books. They're listed in my profile if you're really interested...

28.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Rating: 3/5

I love how many different meanings you can get out of this book. The dangers of messing around nature, masculinity versus femininity, the religious context, making the correct choices, etc etc. You can really get a lot out of this book.

I did not, however, love the characters. Perhaps it's just me and my dislike for Gothic fiction as a whole, but the exaggeration of emotions and the plot holes and whatnot just drive me up the wall. And I really didn't like Victor Frankenstein. I wanted to slap him upside the head and tell him to take responsibility for his actions.

I think a large part of why I didn't enjoy this novel is my dislike for much of Gothic fiction. This book has meaning and depth galore, but I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone but the serious reader.

EDITED because I can't spell....

Thanks for the review of Frankenstein. This one is still on my tbr list.

Hope your next book will be better. :)

I'm currently reading Persuasion and with Austen, it's hard to go wrong!

I laughed right out loud when I read that you wanted to slap Victor Frankenstein upside the head...
I felt this way when I read Ethan Fromme. I wanted to shake the passive whimp and tell him to grow up and stop being such a pale simpering victim.

Some spoilers in this post

>152 Whisper1:, Isn't it horrible!? I mean, Frankenstein creates this horribly ugly creature and then, when his experiment goes as planned, he freaks out and hides in his room. Somehow, this eight-foot-tall monster easily finds fitting clothes (in a time when the average man was something like 5'2'') and runs away for months! Why doesn't Victor go and tell someone? Warn the public that a monster is out there? He doesn't even tell anyone when his brother is murdered by the monster and an innocent girl is executed for the murder she didn't commit! And he acts like he's the victim of the entire book!

Grr....

EDIT: Although I must admit, I'm kind of looking forward to writing my 10-page paper over how all of Frankenstein was actually Victor's fault and though he thought it was his destiny to create mass mayhem and chaos, it was his choices that led to the multitude of deaths in the end. It'll be like a rant I'm getting a grade for.

You go girl!!!!!!

I had to laugh at your comments about Frankenstein! I'm sure I would feel the same way after reading it - it's one of the classics I've managed to miss out on so far...
Gotta love Persuasion though!

*laughs evilly as she starts her paper*

I would be very interested in reading your paper when you are finished. Any chance you might send it to me via email as an attachment?

Your ideas are wonderful and I think it is going to be an incredibly well written paper.

I'd be happy to send my paper to you. It'll be a comparison of Shelley's portrayal of fate vs. free will and Edgeworth's portrayal of the same in her short story, Murad the Unlucky. Basically, both Frankenstein and Murad claim they had no choice even though they really did. The paper's not due until May 4 so chances are, I won't be done with it until then, but I'd be happy to send it to you if you're still interested!

#158: Could I persuade you to send a copy to me, too??

Of course!

You're all make me nervous now. I certainly hope my paper-writing skills are up to snuff! :P

Here is a link to the Murad the Unlucky in case you've never read it. It's the first story and it's not too long. I found it entertaining and a good story to compare styles with Frankenstein.

#160: Do not let me make you nervous. I never graduated college, but I do appreciate the time and effort put into getting education and am interested in learning things I do not know.

Thanks for the link to Murad!

Can I get a copy, too? I think Frankenstein is very interesting and I would like to read your views. I'm the same as Stasia. Like learning new things and the education process but never finished college. (only Technical school)

cal8769, I'd love to send a copy to you (and anyone else who wants one - just let me know)!

As far as schooling go, I've heard rumors (as in, I have absolutely no sources to support this claim) that the job market is so full at the moment that even with a degree now, there's a good chance you'll end up in a low-end job like fast-food. Nowadays, unless you're joining the military, I don't think you really have a choice but to go to college. I know when I graduated high school, the thought of not going to college never crossed my mind. It was just something you had to do. Luckily, I only have one more year!

One year until graduate school, that is... :(

I would have loved to go to college but RL got in the way. I went to technical school in my mid 20's and became a practical (vocational) nurse and started college for registered nursing. But RL, being what it is, was too much and I dropped out of college. I know that I can go back at anytime but I like my life and job. I agree with you, some sort of higher education is a must.

If I would have to give advice to a younger person, (based on Pennsylvania knowledge) I would suggest the technical trades- plumbing, heating, air conditioning, masonry, etc. Then I would suggest medical fields with nursing being first. After that I would suggest secondary teaching-science, maths, etc. Of course the military is always a good option. It is so hard for young people to decide what they want to do for their entire lives.

>164 cal8769:, It seems like technical trades are going out of style. People go to schools for 4-12 years and come out wanting a job that all they do is sit around and think or teach. As important as the intellectual jobs are, there's only so many of them to go around. And a technical job is nothing to laugh at. My dad is a construction worker and my uncle is a plumber. Both of them make more money than anyone else in my family. They're not rich, but they make enough money to afford little pleasures and live comfortably.

If I had my way, I'd either run my own library (well, technically a government library but I'd like to be the head librarian) or own my own used bookstore. I doubt that's going to happen, at least not right out of school. I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do once I graduate. Probably cry because all those student loan are going to need to be paid off...

29.

The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: 4/5

I'm shocked that there is actually a science fiction novel with little green aliens out there! And it's a good book, on top of that!

It takes one hell of an author to make you actually hope that the human race is defeated. And yet, that is exactly what Le Guin does. In this short little book, you experience the invasion of the Athshean homeworld by humans (or yumens, in their language). The humans have enslaved the Athsheans, or creechies, as their referred to. The humans have enslaved the creechies and use them for labor: primarily cutting down trees. The world is one giant forest and the entire ecosystem thrives by it. Not only are the humans destroying the world, but they make a habit of torturing the creechies. Their women are frequently raped and one general seems to greatly enjoy castrating rebellious males in public. Naturally, the creechies rebel and the book is the story of them winning their planet back.

It's a powerful little tale, but a sad one. It's also kind of confusing, as are most of Le Guin's works. The Hainish cycle consists of seven or eight interrelated books that don't really follow each other. You can start anywhere in the series and more or less understand things, but you're always going to be missing a few things. If you're interested in the book, I'd recommend keeping Wikipedia open just in case you need to reference a term (or an alien race or planet...)

A must read for any science fiction lover.

I have that on my have-to-get list. After I read Left Hand of Darkness and loved it so much I'm interested in anything that woman has written. I'm glad to know TWFWIF is good too, thanks for the review!

One of goals this year is to read all of Le Guin's Hainish Cycle. Next: Rocannon's World!

>168 RebeccaAnn:: That was my first LeGuin. I found it second-hand in the old Ace Double edition. I loved it.

It sounds... bizarre. I must read it!

I've just received Rocannon's World from BM so looking forward to reading it. The Word for World is Forest is going on my wishlist as well.

>171 lunacat:, I went onto BookMooch to find Rocannon's World and it wasn't there. You must have mooched the only copy! ;-)

Oh well, I know my library has it!

>169 TadAD:, I've heard a lot of good things about Rocannon's World, so I'm excited to read it. I'm currently in the middle of Persuasion by Jane Austen and Foundation by Isaac Asimov, so it's going to have to wait just a little bit before I can read it.

Lol, sorry! I'm glad your library has it.

>173 lunacat:, Meh, it's fine. :P I have four or five ILL's from my library so I need to read those first anyways. I hope you enjoy it!

Finally! With finals and starting a full time job, my reading's been a bit slack lately. But I've finished another book at last!

30.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3.5/5

I have mixed feelings about this book. There were a lot of points where it was interesting and I easily read 100 pages or so without getting bored - always a good sign in a book. The premise of the book is an extremely good mathematician, Hari Seldon, specializing in statistics, has predicted (presumably accurately) the downfall of the entire Galactic Empire in the next thousand years. To reduce the damage that will be done, he takes a few hundred or so psychohistorians to an uninhabited planet, Terminus, to combine all the knowledge known to man into one giant encyclopedia. Those who work on the encyclopedia call themselves the Foundation. However, soon society starts to deteriorating and the Foundation finds themselves at the mercy of people who have been reduced to living a life similar to those of the Dark Ages. As it says on Amazon, "mankind’s last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and live as slaves—or take a stand for freedom and risk total destruction."

Only it seems as if nothing really happened in this first of three books. The Foundation was created, it had a few challenges and it established a few heros. However, the book is divided into five sections and each section skips forward roughly 50 years or so. This means that every time someone of importance was established, they were dead in the next section. There was really no one main character to follow throughout the book. It felt like this book was more or less a history lesson. It was very impersonal and you really never got a chance to know any characters. They were there and then they were gone.

I have every intention of reading the next two books in the trilogy because I'm intrigued enough to continue giving it a chance and they are relatively quick reads. If you're not a fan of science fiction though, I doubt you'd like these books.

I know a few of you expressed interest in reading my final paper. Linda, I have your email but if the rest of you could send me your's in a private message, I'll get the paper out to you!

31.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 4/5

I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens, so I thought I'd give Pratchett's Discworld series a try. It has a similar voice as Good Omens, but sadly, I didn't find it nearly as entertaining. There were a few moments when I sort of giggled, but I was expecting something along the lines of "laugh out loud funny" when what I got was "slightly smirk because it's kind of humorous."

The basic story is this: Rincewind, the unluckiest wizard ever, must escort the strangely ignorant but very rich tourist Twoflower through Discworld. While doing this, he must evade Luggage, Twoflower's living luggage with square teeth a tongue the color of mahogany, dragons that are only real when their creator is conscious, pirates, barbarians, alternate dimensions, Death, Fate, a god that eats souls, a sea troll, slavery, and falling of the edge of the world. Did I mention he's unlucky?

I loved Death, and I admit the story itself was good, but it didn't grab me the way I expected it to and maybe that was my problem. I went in expecting something completely different. I rated it 4 out of 5 rather than 3 out of 5 because for some reason, I really want to read the next book. The story leaves on a big cliffhanger and, while I didn't enjoy the book in the way I thought I would, I want to know how Rincewind and Twoflower's story ends and that's a sign of a good book.

I will continue with the Discworld series, but probably at a very relaxed pace with many other books in between.

Hi RebeccaAnn - I just wanted to comment to say that (while not everyone would agree), many people find the first couple of Discworld books the least enjoyable, so do keep going. I've read them all and I'd say that, as you might expect from such a large series, the quality goes up and down all the time (my favourites would be Pyramids, Mort, Reaper Man and Carpe Jugulum). I would say that a lot of the best ones are earlier, but then he wrote Nation last year (non-Discworld), which is the best thing he's written for ages...

Good Omens is still probably my favourite though - but then I'm a massive Neil Gaiman fan...

Ditto above! My favorites so far have been Soul Music and Going Postal... oh, and The Truth!!! THAT one made me laugh out loud a number of times. And I'll admit - I've never managed to finish Color of Magic!

I have only read Color Of Magic! and I was not that impressed. I have been planning to pick up the next few books, but have not managed yet.

I think that I will be like RebeccaAnn by continuing the series, but in very small doses.

flissp is right. The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic were written as satire on specific fantasy stereotypes, so that each section of the first book, for example, is a takeoff on a different type of fantasy. This means they are parodies that by their nature are episodic. What happened then is that Discworld started to take on a life of its own, and began to evolve into its own creation. That's why many of us suggest starting with Guards! Guards! or Mort or Equal Rites, each the first volume of different plot threads. If you don't like those, then Pratchett is probably not for you. Also, The Color of Magic is 25 years old--Pratchett has improved his writing considerably since then as well. Death, the Time Monks, Sam Vimes, Granny Weatherwax--there is so much ahead of you!

#177: I read The Color Of Magic earlier this year and liked it. I do hope the rest of the Discworld series will be a bit better though, otherwise I'm not sure I'll read them all.

Well, it's reassuring that so many people feel the series gets better! I'll definitely be continuing with it then.

>181 ronincats:, I'm gathering from your post that there are a bunch of different arcs one can start with rather than just one particular reading order. Is that true? I might try a different arc if it is...

Yes, and all three of the ones I mention are different arcs from the Rincewind/Wizards arc. To find a great chart for how the books are organized, check out
http://www.us.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/index.html

Thanks ronincats! I was looking at summaries earlier of the books and it seems like the witches arc is perfect for me. It satirizes things I'm interested in such as Shakespeare and the Phantom of the Opera (did I mention I'm a music and english major who just spent the last semester studying Shakespeare's tragedies?).

I have now have most of the witches arc coming my way through my library's ILL system. Thanks again!

You are most welcome. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for sending your paper! I rec'd. it!

Hang in there and pat yourself on the back for all the work you did this semester!

*blushes just a little*

Aw, thanks Linda!

32.

Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell
Rating: 4/5

I found the second installment in the Scarpetta series much more enjoyable and exciting than the first, Postmortem. Kay Scarpetta is trying to find the murderer of Beryl Madison, a romance novelist, who was presumably killed by the man who had been stalking her for the past couple months. As Kay gets closer and closer to the killer, she puts herself in more and more danger and if she isn't careful, the killer might just start to notice her.

The pace was fast and in this book, we begin to learn more about Kay's past, which was really nice. We get to meet Mark James, Kay's ex. I had a hard time putting this book down and it was just what I needed after stressful college finals. However, the ending seemed a bit rushed. There was so much build-up and such a nice twist at the end when she's alone in her house (I don't want to spoil anything), but then it was over in just a few pages.

All in all, a good book if you like thrillers/mysteries, I highly recommend this book and I will continue to read more of Cornwell's novels.

33.

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Rating: 4/5

A typical Austen and I quite enjoyed it. This one focuses on Anne Elliot and her former flame Frederick Wentworth as they rekindle the love they once felt for each other. The maturity of the characters was a refreshing change from Austen's usual young heroine finding the love of her life. This isn't my favorite Austen, which will probably always be Emma (I just love the growth she experiences throughout the novel and the book as a whole was simply hilarious), but it was still a great read.

I don't know what to say about this that hasn't been said before. The first half I felt was a bit slow but the pace picked up quickly in the second half. Louisa's injury and the scandal with Mr. Elliot and Mrs. Clay had me doing a double take (that just came out of nowhere) and every time Mary opened her mouth, I found myself mysteriously overcome with a severe case of the giggles.

Overall, this book earns a high recommendation from me!

Wow, Cornwell and then Austen. That's quite a pair to pick. I am toying with Persuasion being my next Austen but that may be a ways down the road. I am really interested in your thoughts on how the Scarpetta series sits with you since you are reading them so close in time. I did something similar a few years ago. I found the earlier ones, which you are reading now, were overall better.

I didn't purposely pair the two together. Honestly, I didn't even really notice that I read those two back to back. I have a bunch of unfinished books that I started during the school year but then became distracted and never finished. I was supposed to read Persuasion for a class but I was too busy to finish it then, so I finished it late. I read Body of Evidence just because after finals, I prefer to read books that don't make me think too much. It's nice to relax with a thriller/mystery.

I've heard some not-so-good things about Cornwell's later books, but supposedly her newer novel is excellent. I'm excited to read more, but I also have a bunch of James Patterson, J.D. Robb, Sue Grafton, and John Sandford books to read if I decide I don't like them!

>189 RebeccaAnn: et al. The early Cornwell books are definitely my favorites. I found the series to taper off such that I haven't even read the last few. But Cruel and Unusual is one of my all-time favorite mysteries. You've got a good list of upcoming authors going there, at any rate.

#193: I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding the Cornwell books. Her Book of the Dead even made my clunker list a couple of years ago. Terrible.

Hi RebeccaAnn - only just catching all the Discworld talk here (been absent a little while), and everyone has pretty much already said everything you needed to hear. I actually really enjoyed The Colour of Magic, but then I was 11 when I read it... I stopped reading Discworld somewhere around Small Gods, although I'm bound to go back one day. Death and the Witches are my personal favourites - Mort is classic. Do persevere!

I'm actually reading Mort right now and I love it! I've found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. I'm still waiting for my copy of Equal Rites to come in through ILL, but I'm excited to start reading the witches' arc as well!

34.

Mort by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 5/5

I adored this book! On many occasions, I found myself laughing out loud. The humor is amazing, the story line is absorbing, and though I know this is satire, you can't help caring for the characters. There was even a final battle (sort of) and a little bit of angst thrown in. There's something for everyone!

In this Discworld story, Mort has become Death's apprentice. However, his human emotions start making Death wonder if he's missed something in his life (existence?) and when he suddenly disappears, Mort must attempt to take over the business. Throw in Death's feisty adopted daughter, a servant who is actually a 2,000 year old wizard, and a princess who is simultaneously dead but alive and you've got one interesting story.

This was a fabulous second introduction in the Discworld series. I enjoyed it immensely more than The Color of Magic (though the cameo appearance by Rincewind made me laugh) and I have every intention of continuing to read the rest of the series. Sadly, Death's saga will have to wait a little bit as I currently have the first four of witches' saga sitting on my coffee table...staring at me...waiting to be read...*cracks open Equal Rites and starts to read*

35.

Roccanon's World by Ursula K. LeGuin
Rating: 4/5

Rocannon, an ethnologist, finds himself trapped on a world in which the people are about as advanced as the Bronze Age when enemies from Faraday destroy his ship and kill his teammates. The world is at least eight years away from his own people so Rocannon does the only thing he can do: he tries to sneak on to the enemy ship to send a message through their ansible, a machine that allows instantaneous messages rather than the normal eight years there and eight years back. With the help of a few friends on the planet, he begins his journey.

This wasn't my favorite LeGuin, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. It was her first book though, and you could tell. It didn't have much of thought provoking themes one finds in The Dispossessed or The Word for World is Forest. Rather, it's just plain fun to read! It's a fantasy/science fiction adventure in which we see someone from a very advanced culture interacting and integrating in the culture of much more primitive people. Rocannon has an impermasuit that keeps him safe from the elements, but the people of the world mistake it as a form of magic and because of this, Rocannon is revered almost like a god.

Though be warned, if you should choose to read this book, the ending is tragic. I can't say much without giving away major spoilers, but I put the book down with a lump in my throat. I still recommend this book, though, if for nothing else than to experience an extremely well done meshing of science fiction and fantasy but moreso because Rocannon is an amazing, noble character with great strengths and his story is one that is worth telling.

#198: I am going to be reading that one as well as The Word for World is Forest in the next week or so. I am glad they are fun reads.

I really hope you enjoy them! LeGuin has a nice, simple style of prose that I personally love but that I think can come off as really distant and kind of unemotional. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think you'll understand when you read it. But the scope and ideas she comes up with are amazing! Have fun reading them!

>198 RebeccaAnn:: I have a soft spot for Rocannon's World. It was one of the first SF books I read when I was just getting into the genre as a kid. I still have the Ace Double edition (paired with Davidson's The Kar-Chee Reign) and pull it out once in a while. No, not her best, but a sentimental favorite.

36.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Rating: 5/5

Yes, I am a member of the Harry Potter generation. I was eleven when the first book came out and I grew up right along with Harry and his friends. This book is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most reread book I own. Throughout my childhood, I would read it upwards of ten to fifteen times a year. I couldn't get enough of Harry Potter. One of my favorite childhood memories is sneaking onto the family computer and typing up my own Hogwarts acceptance letter, than putting it in the mailbox for my parents to find, hoping they would get the hint and send me off to Hogwarts. It didn't work, but that didn't stop me from dressing up as a Hogwarts student for Halloween or making my dad carve me my own wand from an old tree branch.

Though I don't try to be a witch anymore, I have lost none of my love for Harry Potter. With the sixth movie coming out in July, I thought it appropriate to reread the series once again. After eleven years and what must be somewhere around sixty rereads, I still love this book. For those of you not familiar with Harry Potter and his magical adventures, this is the first book in the series. Harry finds out he is a wizard and goes off to his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which he will attend for the next seven years. However, dark things lurk about the corridors of Hogwarts and Harry soon finds himself trying to stop the theft of the Sorcerer's Stone, a magical stone which turns any metal into gold and also creates the Elixir of Life. On top of hidden plots, Harry must learn to play the dangerous game of Quidditch, deal with a snarky Potions teacher who hates him, and get past a giant three headed dog. Will Harry even make it to the end of his first year?

I don't know what I can say about this book that hasn't been said before. In my opinion, it's amazing and one of my favorite books of the series. Several passages still make me laugh out loud and no matter how many times I read this book, the scene in the Forbidden Forest and the final showdown always leave me breathless. Rowling knows how to create suspense, even in a children's book. Her prose is at once engaging but almost childish in its simplicity. When Harry first meets someone, the details he takes in just leave me smiling. The first time he meets Ron, he describes him as "tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hand and feet, and a long nose." It's just one of those odd descriptions, giving you the strangest details about a person, yet it works perfectly. I don't need anything else. With this description (and the added detail from earlier that Ron is a redhead), I have a great image of Ron in my head. All of Rowling's descriptions are like this. Simple, direct, but with everything you need to vividly see the adventure unfolding.

And of course, as seems to be common in most children's books, we are instilled with moral values. There are things more important than money and fame, value your friends, yadda yadda. We've seen it all before. However, unlike a lot of other books, Rowling doesn't preach it to you. Characters have their different opinions (even amongst friends), and no one's perfect. Everyone's three dimensional, even the bad guys (although honestly, you'll see more of that in the later books). I would highly recommend this book to anyone, whether you've already read it before or if you somehow managed to miss the craze (better late than never). It's a great story and an exciting adventure with characters you'll love and adore for the rest of your life.

I gave you a Thumbs Up for your review, RebeccaAnn! I, like you, love the Harry Potter series, and grew up reading these books. I still reread them all the time as well, and feel the connection to the series that you describe.

One of my favorite childhood memories is sneaking onto the family computer and typing up my own Hogwarts acceptance letter, than putting it in the mailbox for my parents to find, hoping they would get the hint and send me off to Hogwarts.

This is awesome!! I wish I had been that creative as a kid :)

I will keep an eye out for the rest of your reviews as you reread the series - and then we can argue about which ones are the best, and which ones are the weakest!

Aww, thanks! It's always nice to meet a fellow HP fan and I really look forward to the discussions! I'm in the middle of moving at the moment and the rest of HP books are packed away but as soon as I get to my new house, I'm starting in on CoS.

My parents were very amused by the letter, but I could never convince them it was authentic. Bummer. I still have the letter, though. Too much sentimental value attached to it at this point to just throw it away ;-P Still have the wand my dad made for me too!

http://www.librarything.com/groups/readyalit

In case you are still interested.

for clarity, the YA thread posted the possibility of starting a group read of Over Sea, Under Stone.

I'm the same as you, grew up with Harry and adore the books. I have eased up on the rereads slightly but I couldn't be without these in my life! Looking forward to the film but the books will always be up there among my favourites of all time.

>206 Whisper1:: Awesome! I'll be keeping my eye on that thread to see what they decide!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/64598&newpost=1#lastmsg

See post #57, 58...
What do you think? Should we begin a thread here, or in the YA Lit thread.

Probably in the Read YA group. That way, anyone else who is interested could join in as well and since that group in specifically for people interested in YA literature, hopefully there will be more interest!

Did you want to start the thread or should I? I just moved recently but I'm going to go searching for my book tomorrow (I have about seventeen boxes full of books...) and then I can start reading. I'm very excited!

So I just moved recently and the internet at the new place was a bit wonky at first so I wasn't able to access LT. Anyways, I don't have reviews up for the three books I read over the week, but I'll get to them soon!

Here they are though:
37. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (finished 6/3/09)

38. From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz (finished 6/5/09)

39. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (finished 6/9/09)

And with those three books, I am officially over halfway done with my 75-book goal and the year's not even halfway over with. Go me! :P

Congratulations on reaching the half way point! And you're reading such good books!

37.

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Rating: 4/5

This was my first venture into Chuck Palahniuk and I must say, I was not disappointed. Invisible Monsters is the story of a young woman (the name is never given until the very end) who has just suffered the traumatic experience of having the lower half of her jaw shot off. As she travels the country (and a little bit of Canada) with her two friends, Brandy (a transgendered MTF) and an astonishing handsome man, Seth, she simultaneously goes on her own journey of self-discovery.

I loved the language Palahniuk uses in this novel. Yes, it's a bit confusing at times as the story is by no means linear, but I found it to be a very emotional, raw sort of language. He says what he needs to and no more. Palahniuk doesn't need to use any sort of poetic language to get his point across. His simple choice of words makes it nearly impossible to put the book down. It draws you in and holds on tight until the very end.

There were a lot of twists in Invisible Monsters as well. At first, they were breathtaking and amazing, making you see the story in a whole new light. However, after awhile, they got old and semi-predictable (I sort of guessed the last major twist in the story - the one of who's truly responsible for the narrator's accident). It became almost soap operaish near the end. Apart from that small complaint, though, I found the book amazing and I would definitely recommend it!

>212 loriephillips:: Thanks for the congrats and the compliment!

38.

From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz
Rating: 3/5

Though normally I'm a big fan of Dean Konntz, this book just didn't sit well with me. For starters, the description of this book seems a bit misleading. I went into it thinking this was mostly going to be about the character Bartholomew, yet most of the book occurs while Barty is somewhere between not even born and three years old. Instead, the book seems to focus on many different people. There's Agnes Lampian, Barty's mother and Celestina White, the older sister of Serafina, Angel's mother. Tom Vanadium is the aged detective investigating the death of Naomi, Enoch Cain's late wife. And then of course, there's Enoch Cain himself (Junior, as he prefers to be called), the clear and unrivaled antagonist of the book. There's also Jacob and Edom, Agnes's brothers, as well as a few others that I can't remember the names of at the time. As I listened to this book rather than read it, you can see how I found the man different characters a bit confusing to keep up with at times.

Besides the misleading description of the book, there's also the lack of character depth. There was really no gray area in the story. People were either amazing good, almost angelic, or they were Junior Cain, the only bad guy in the entire book. Not only was he bad, but we was a psychotic-insane-sociopath-delusional type of bad. There was no area in between and therefore, no one really felt real.

Apart from bad character development, there was way too much theology for me. I have no problem with religion, but neither do I really have any interest in it. Therefore, I tend to dislike literature that focuses heavily on religion, and From the Corner of His Eye was immersed in it. Most of Koontz's books tend to have some element of religion in them, but I've yet to see one so completely imbued in theology and for me, it was a turn off.

If you're already a serious fan of Dean Koontz, then I might recommend this book. The story as a whole is decent. It's also an interesting look at the theory of quantum physics. I will admit, though, that had I had another audiobook available at the time I was listening to this, I doubt I would have finished From the Corner of His Eye.

39.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Rating: 5/5

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry provides us with even more excitement and adventure than his first! Though the Harry Potter series is most definitely a children's/young adult's book, the second one has much darker overtones than the first. Muggleborns are mysteriously being Petrified at Hogwarts and unless the culprit is found, there's a good chance Hogwarts will close...for good because for every student ending up Petrified, the odds are getting higher and higher that soon enough, one will end up murdered. Harry also begins to exhibit a few traits associated with Dark Magic, most notably his being a Parselmouth. Could it be possible that he's the Heir of Slytherin who’s responsible for Petrifying innocent students?

Overall, I've always felt this book had more pure adventure and less emotional angst and whatnot than most of the other books. We see Harry develop some more on-the-spot problem solving skills as he must eventually enter the Chamber and fight the monster, and we definitely see his bravery even in the face of what appears to be insurmountable odds.

However, I must say that while this book is just as much fun to read as the first in the series, it is by no means my favorite. Yes, it’s packed with action and adventure, but it seems to be the book least relevant to the culmination of the series. I’m not disregarding the importance of Riddle’s diary, but we are never told the importance of it until the sixth book so it seems to have little to no relevance to the series while reading it. There’s also the lack of emotional connectivity in this book. There wasn’t a good balance between the adventure and the emotional side of things, I thought. There was too much mystery and excitement and not enough self-discovery. This might not bother some people, but it’s always bothered me (for what I always felt was an excellent balance, think of the third, fourth, and fifth Harry Potter books).

Still, it’s an excellent book and I love it and I love to reread it. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn’t read it and if you have read it, well I always think it’s worth a reread!

Invisible Monsters was my first Palahniuk as well and like you I enjoyed it, though possibly not quite as much as you did. I think I rated it a 3 and a half. Towards the end I got a bit annoyed with it. I didn't guess the twists but when they happened (esp. the one where we find out who the protagonist really is) I was kind of like "so what?". I did like Palahniuk's writing style though and enjoyed reading the book - let's just say I enjoyed the journey more than the destination.

40.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Rating: 3/5

I went into this book not expecting much at all. I had heard bad things about this series but I was in a vampire mood and this is the only vampire book I own so I said 'What the heck?' and started reading it.

Anita Blake is a short, sarcastic animator. She raises zombies for a living and on the side, she's a vampire hunter. When vampires start turning up dead, the master vampire of the city, Nikolaos, calls on her to solve the problem. Nikolaos doesn't ask politely, though. Anita has to find the murderer or she'll be dead. Now she's in a race to find a killer with absolutely no clue as to where to begin before Nikolaos loses patience.

Honestly, it wasn't horrible. Not intellectually stimulating by any means, but it was a nice lazy read. Judging from the cover art and the comments on the back hinting towards erotic situations, I was expecting a lot of sex. I don't mind sex in my books, but I'm not a fan of erotica. It just doesn't hold my interest. Imagine my surprise, however, when I finish the book without encountering one single sex scene. In fact, the book as a whole was more of a mystery novel than anything else, just with vampires, werewolves and wererats, ghouls, and zombies thrown in to the mix. Not bad.

I liked Anita. She was witty and sarcastic. A lot of her comments had me snickering. She's tough and independent, which I always like to see in my girls. I was actually going to rate this higher until I got to the end of the book. Once Anita gets to the cemetery where the ghouls are (those who've read this will know what I'm talking about), it's all downhill. The pacing is suddenly extremely rushed and some of the stupidest decisions, like Anita setting a shed on fire in which she has locked herself inside of, are made. That irritated me to no end and made me want to bang my head against a wall. The final showdown between Anita and Nikolaos is horrible as well. For all her thousand years of power and for being the strongest vampire in the city, she sure didn't stand up to Anita very well. It took about a page to kill her. Way too much build-up for such a pathetic fight.

Apart from not really being able to write a fight scene, the few passionate moments in the book were also found wanting. There were only a couple and they never moved past a kiss or two, but they were even more boring than the final fight. Hamilton clearly has not figured out how to write passion or action.

I don't know if I'll continue with this series. I might borrow the next book from the library, but I definitely did not like the first book enough to spend any more money on the series.

I had the same reaction.

41.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Rating: 4/5

What a delightful little supernatural mystery! For me, this kind of came off as Twilight done right. In a world where vampires have "come out of the coffin," Sookie Stackhouse, a small-town waitress in Louisiana, has lived her entire life with a special "disability". She can read minds. She's gotten good at blocking out people over the years but it takes a lot of effort to so. When a vampire comes into the bar she works at one night, Sookie's immediately drawn to him because for the first time in her life, she can't hear his thoughts. When local girls, all "fang-bangers", or vampire groupies, start turning up dead, Sookie's vampire, Bill, is the first suspect. Was it Bill, or is Jason, Sookie's player of a brother, who's the guilty one?

Dead Until Dark is a fabulous mix of romance and mystery. It never got to angsty or too action packed. Harris did a marvelous job of balancing out fast action with the serious emotion, and her characters are real and developed well. I did think Sam's secret was a little bit overkill, but it's such a small part of the story (at the moment, anyways) that I couldn't find myself caring much.

I listened to this on audiobook, and I'm very glad I did. The narrator, Johanna Parker, was absolutely brilliant! Her southern accent was spot on and the amount of emotions and intensity in her voice was perfect. There were scenes I found myself breathless in. Her men's voices, however, aren't as good. Bill and Sam actually sounded almost identical, which was a little annoying. They don't spend a whole lot of time together in this book, so it wasn't too confusing, but if they have scenes together in future books, there might be a problem.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to start the second (I've already downloaded it from Audible). If you have the chance to listen to this, I highly recommend you take advantage of that. I honestly don't think I would have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I had just read it. Parker's voice is amazing and it added so much to the story that I think I'll probably have to listen to the rest of the books, rather than read them.

42. Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: June 2009

Okay, I know this isn't technically a book, but it is a magazine full of short fiction and each issue is the size of a small book. Not to mention it takes about the same time for me to get through a book as to get through an issue of one my magazines. Therefore, I think it counts as one of my books for the year! :P

Most of the stories in this issue were good, but I was a little disappointed with James Patrick Kelley's story, "Going Deep". As a writer, I love Kelley, and I've come to expect amazing stories from him because ninety percent of the time, that's what I get. This story was good, but just not as good as I thought it would be. There were a lot of other really good stories, but I don't really feel like mentioning them all. My favorite of this issue was "Bare, Forked Animal" by John Alfred Taylor. It had the right amount of creepy hopelessness that I love to read and to top it off, it incorporated Shakespeare. Perfect!

43. Cemetery Dance Magazind: Issue #59

Another one of the magazines I subscribe to (there's four in all) is Cemetery Dance, the horror magazine. This had a couple amazing stories such as "Burying Betsy" by Brian Keene and "The Gaki" by Stephen Mark Rainey. "Burying Betsy" was a short short which I love because I can read them over and over and over in just an hour, creeping myself out multiple times! "The Gaki" is a lot longer but just as good and in both of those stories, the very last line gives me the shivers.

I liked "The Horticulturist's Daughter" by Darren Speegle but was confused as to why it appeared in a horror magazine as it wasn't scary at all. It was a bit sad, but it didn't go beyond that. I did not like "A Wiggle of Maggot, A Curl of Bacon" at all. The story was way too confusing to even begin to be scary. If I don't understand what's happening, I have a hard time being afraid. Mostly, I just feel annoyance. I read the story twice and was no closer to understanding in the second time than I was the first.

Overall, a decent issue, but I was a bit disappointed in the quality of the stories. Only two really stood out, one was horrible, and the other five stories were mostly just unmemorable...

44.

Relentless by Dean Koontz
Rating: 3.5/5

THERE WILL BE EXTREME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, PLEASE DON'T READ.

Cullen "Cubby" Greenwich is a writer of popular novels. As he himself says, his worst book (many thought the dwarf was unnecessary) received 86% good reviews. However, his latest book, One O'Clock Jump, receives the most horrible review Cubby has ever read by a renowned critic, Shearman Waxx who, though his opinion can make or break a career, seems to be almost a shadow. There's nothing known about him and only one picture, a blurry image that reveals nothing. Not only is it completely rude and unjustified, the syntax is awful and the plot points are incorrect. Curious as to who would insult his book so blatantly, claiming to be a book critic though his grammar is horrible, Cubby finds out where Waxx dines for lunch and with his son, the six-year-old prodigy Milo, he goes to see what the man looks like. After what appears to be an innocent encounter, Cubby, his wife Penny, Milo, and their non-collie Lassie, find themselves being terrorized by Waxx and on the run for their lives.

Parts of this book were absolutely terrifying. I read this before going to bed one night and could have sworn I heard someone moving around in my room. Creeped the hell out of me. However, it soon lost it's novelty as the chase bore on and one with no explanation as to why Cubby was running for his life. When we finally found out that the organization Waxx works for is really a group of roughly twelve thousand people devoted to the post-humanity movement in art and literature, and that they are devoted to brutally killing off authors and artists of influence whose work is not that of post-humanity, things began to look a little bit too unreasonable. Not to mention, these people occupy positions high up in the government (think National Security and such) which gives them the power to more or less do anything they want to innocent people with no consequence to themselves. I don't think this abuse of power would ever be able to go unnoticed. The whole thing was just too unlikely. And I haven't even gotten into the teleporting dog or the time travel (I swear to you, I am not joking).

I did like Cubby's voice, though. Told in first person, the book reads like the mind of an author. Cubby's thoughts play on words and go off on tangents. For the most part, the book maintains a light-hearted tone which I adored. It was a joy to read and many comments had me laughing out loud. The love that Penny feels for her husband and vice versa is palpable and is the stuff ideal relationships are built upon. Milo annoyed me a little bit but that's mostly because I have a thing against prodigies. I prefer normal people. For a prodigy, though, he wasn't too bad.

All in all, it wasn't that bad of a book. It had some typical Koontzisms in it. Everything that first appeared to be supernatural was explained scientifically by the end. The good guys were very good, the bad guys were very bad, with little to no gray area in between. All the good guys lived happily ever after in the end. But I got some good thrills out of it and it left me reasonably spooked when I turned off the lights, so it wasn't all bad. I liked most of the characters (especially the Booms) but thought the plot a little too far-fetched. Recommended if you're already a fan of Koontz or are in the mood for a quick scare. Otherwise, I would avoid it. There are many, many better books out there.

45.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Rating: 4/5

Another delightful little paranormal mystery! In the second book of the Southern Vampire series, a good friend of Sookie's is murdered but before Sookie and Bill can find the murderer, they are "loaned out" by Eric to find a missing vampire in Dallas.

Again, I listened to the audiobook and Johanna Parker's narration is breathtaking. The amount of emotions she puts into her words makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to properly read these books or if I'll be stuck only being able to listen to this series on audiobook. I strongly recommend that if you have a chance to listen to this book versus reading it, you take advantage and do so. It only heightens the experience. I don't think I'd like this series quite as much as I do if it weren't for Parker.

Now that Bill and Sookie's relationship has been established, this book focuses heavily on the action going on and man, is there a lot of action! There's almost no time to breathe. We learn more about other supernatural creatures this time as well, such as shapeshifters and a maenad. I must admit, the constant adding of various supernatural creatures tends to get a little annoying (why can't anyone just be happy with vampires? why does there need to be vampires and werewolves and shapeshifters and maenads?). Even more annoying, though, is how every vampiric male is instantly drawn to Sookie. I'll give Harris credit in that she created a character with enough flaws to never really be considered a Mary Sue, but sometimes she treads a thin line.

While not an intelligent read by any means, Harris's books remain fantastic mind-candy!

46.

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Rating: 4/5

Charlaine Harris does not mess with a good thing. This book starts with a mystery and Sookie, along with a few other supernatural beings, must solve it. Same formula, different book. At the beginning of this book, we find out that there's trouble in paradise. Bill's been distant and Sookie has trouble tearing him away from his computer. When he goes missing, believing to have been kidnapped by the vampire he's been seeing behind Sookie's back. Sookie travels to Jackson, Mississippi along with Bubba (aka Elvis) as protection, where she teams up with werewolf Alcide to find her missing vampire.

I didn't like this book quite as much as the first two. For one, there were some odd sex scenes, such as this weird lesbian-type dance thing that Sookie and Tara do at a club, that just had me raising my eyes and hoping the event would end. It was super cheesy and put in there just for shock value, I thought. On the other hand, there were some amazing points to this book, too. We finally see the darker side of Sookie and Bill's relationship. They're not perfect and I'm glad the author doesn't pretend that they are. It's also nice to see Sookie standing up for herself. Nothing's more annoying in a vampire/human relationship than when the vampire is allowed to get away with anything and everything because he's a vampire. Sookie doesn't let Bill get away with anything. She stands up for herself and she sticks to her morals.

All in all, still good mind candy, though not the best book in the series. I still think the Southern Vampire Mysteries are one of the better series out there featuring vampires and I have every intention of reading the next six books!

47.

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3.5/5

In the second series of Asimov's Foundation series, we are introduced to the Mule, a telepath with the ability to influence people's emotions. As the book progresses, he conquers more and more of the Galactic Empire. Eventually, he succeeds in the ultimate conquest, the fall of the Foundation. However, what he doesn't know is Hari Seldon set up a second Foundation and it's this Foundation that's hte important one. This is the one that will save the Galaxy.

The story isn't bad, but Asimov didn't write three-dimensional characters so it's hard to connect to anyone. While I'm reading the book, it's engaging but once I put it down, I don't want to pick it back up. Also, since I can't connect to any characters and I don't really care about them, I have a hard time remembering who is who. Asimov just seems to put in people so he can have someone do something. If you can get past that and read it for the broader scope of the book rather than connection with characters, then it's not too bad. Really, I promise.

So I've been gone for awhile. I went on vacation to visit some relatives and only managed to get through a few books. I'm not going to review them at the moment but I thought I'd at least list them so I don't forget what I read :P

48. Over Sea Under Stone by Susan Cooper - A good book though I thought the ending was a little bit rushed. Recommended and I look forward to the next book in the series. Finished 7/1/09.

49. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnounin - A good read if you're a vegetarian/vegan (like me) or interested in the lifestyle. It definitely gives you a few things to think about but I'm not sure I really believe everything I read. Finshed 7/8/09.

50. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk - Deeply disturbing. Dark. Dreary. My kind of book. Recommended if you like your literature with a little bit of grit but if you have a weak stomach, you might want to stay away (or at least skip the first story...) Finished 7/14/09.

Better reviews on the way...

Congrats on hitting 50--you're moving right along!

>227 ronincats:: Thanks!

I agree with you that Over Sea, Under Stone had a rushed ending.

message 223, I'm trying to obtain the first book in this series, but my local library doesn't have it. I guess I'll have to break down and buy a copy. Your comments regarding these books encourage me to read them.

>229 Whisper1:: You know, I had that same problem. I had to buy the first five books because neither one of the libraries in my town (we have a public and a university library) have them, yet they both have the last four. Very odd. Of course, I really enjoyed the series so I bought the whole thing anyways. Oh well...

48.

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
Rating: 4/5

Three siblings, Simon, Jane, and Barney, find an old map whilst visiting their Uncle Merry. Though at first there doesn't seem to be anything special about it. However, they soon realize there are many people out there willing to do just about anything to get that map. They have to find out what it means before it falls into the wrong hands...

I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and I found the pace just about right. Lots of action with a perfect dispersal of resting points so you can take a break if need be. There was one particular chase scene between Simon and Bill that I just found absolutely breathtaking. For me, that was my favorite part of the entire book. I loved that this wasn't a conventional fantasy (though it did have a bit of a Narnia feel to it, what with the children finding the source of the adventure right within their own home and whatnot). There's no grand adventure, but rather everything just takes place within one town, which I also liked. And they had a dog. I'm very fond of dogs and Rufus was just adorable.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. It felt a bit rushed to me. It also gave the book too much of a prologue feel to it. I know this is just the first book in a series of five, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a self-contained story, and that's what I thought the entire story was missing: a proper ending. Although from what I've heard, it fits with the next four books so really, it's a small complaint. I'm eager to start in on book #2!

Glad you enjoyed this one so much! Can't wait to find out how you like The Dark is Rising.

51. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson - I really, really enjoyed this book! It's an unconventional (and standalon) fantasy novel. I thought there was a slight lack of gray area where morals were concerned and a few preachy moments by the good guys, but honestly, it didn't bother as much as it usually would. (finished 7/20/09)

There will be a more in depth review coming soon, but I've still got a few other books to review first. Hopefully I'll get them all done in the next few days :P

>232 ronincats:: I'm very excited for The Dark Is Rising! I've heard nothing but amazing things about it. I've also heard that Over Sea, Under Stone is the weakest book in the series but since I liked that one so much, I'm really looking forward to the next four!

49.

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman & Kim Barnounin
Rating: 2.5/5

I was stranded at an airport during a three hour layover with nothing to read when I found this book. I admit, I only checked it out because of the name. I tend to avoid self-help books of any kind for the most part, especially diet books, but the name just made me laugh. After flipping through a few chapters and noticing the book is focused primarily on the health benefits of veganism and eating organic, I found myself very interested in the book as that is my lifestyle.

The book is a quick read and it's written in a sarcastic manner that just had me laughing out loud quite a bit. However, the book was a bit more biased than I would have liked. Freedman and Barnounin are supporters of PETA, an organization that, despite my stance on animal rights, I really dislike. They quote PETA a lot so maybe I'm biased in that respect. They also play on the emotional aspects of slaughterhouses and factory farms. Yes, they're horrible. I won't argue that. But that's not what the title of the book led me to believe I'd be reading about.

After reading several chapters on the crimes committed against animals, Freedman and Barnounin then went on a rant about the government and how they're lying about everything we're eating. I don't understand how they could even know this since they have no way of actually monitering what the government does or does not do and then comparing it to what they're telling us. I'm sure there are companies who are less than honest, but there's no way for an average person to get proof of that (is there?) and the blatant accusations made me a little uncomfortable.

So in short, the book is one giant rant against the government and one giant promo towards animal rights. There are a few interesting facts in the book but I would only recommend reading this if you're really interested in animal rights and support PETA (and remember, this is coming from a vegan).

50.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
Rating: 4/5

Reader beware, make sure you have one hell of a strong story before starting this book! My friend told me about it, claiming it was the most disturbing book she's ever read. Of course, I took that as a personal challenge. She wasn't exaggerating. The book tells the story of roughly twenty writers who go on a 'writer retreat'. Wanting to become famous after this retreat, they each go about sabotaging various things, from the heating to the lights to the food, hoping when they are released from their "imprisonment" (at least, that's what they plan on telling the public), they'll be famous for the horrors they endured. They lock themselves in and wait to be rescued. These are the stories they tell each other to pass the time.

If you can get through the first story ("Guts"), you can probably make it through the book. It was quite possibly the most disturbing story I've ever read (to emphasize, I had to put the book down twice due to nausea). There are several amazing stories that are disturbing in their own right, but none quite match the caliber of "Guts". According to Palahniuk himself, whenever he reads this particular story aloud to a group of people, several of his listeners will faint. While I didn't feel light-headed, I'm known to be almost unaffected by most horror and disturbing literature. I could certainly people who haven't spent their entire life feasting on Stephen King being affected more than I was.

The story of the writers themselves was less interesting and honestly, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. There was cannibalism (a couple adults and one infant were consumed), several people slicing off fingers and toes (and in one case, a penis) to make it look like they were tortured more than the others, severe starvation, and probably a few murders. Like I said, disturbing.

I would recommend this just for the short stories that are interspersed throughout the novel. Many are absolutely amazing. The actual ordeal of the writers wasn't quite as interesting. Most of the time, I was just wondering how anybody could be quite so stupid. If you like horror and don't mind reading something that makes you just a bit uncomfortable, then I would definitely recommend Haunted.

Hi RebeccaAnn, Haunted is the only Chuck Palahnuik book that I have tried. It was good but the "Guts" story was too much for me and I am too wary to pick up another.

>237 clfisha:: The only other book of his that I've read was Invisible Monsters, which I very much enjoyed and from what I understand, that's more his standard fare of writing. I think Haunted was a bit...extreme...even for Palahniuk. I'd recommend trying one other book by him before giving up. The people I've talked to tend to say Invisible Monsters and Choke are his other two great novels.

Thanks for the recommendations I will see what my library has to offer!

52. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris - I actually finished this around July 10th or so but completely forgot to put it down. It was really good, probably my favorite book of this series so far. There was a greater focus on Eric, one of my favorite characters, which was fantastic! This book also seemed to be more emotional than the others. Very good, all around. More in-depth review coming soon!

Hi RebeccaAnn
I came across you and this site when researching to find the story of Franklin's ill fated journey.
Thank you for your recommendation, I have reserved Iceblink at my library.
I wanted to read the story because my son is currently on tour in Asia with his band "Cuba is Japan". They have just recorded a concept album which is entirely composed around the story of the Franklin expedition. It's a haunting and beautiful piece of work using vocals, violin, keyboard, guitar and drums. As you are an Arts student and a musician (also the same age as my son!) I thought you might be interested to hear it. Currently you can find just 3 songs on Myspace. The whole album, which was produced by your own, Mark Kramer, will be available later in the year.
Thanks again for helping me find the story. I am asked about it often .
(Isn't the internet great? We are in Melbourne, Australia)

51.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 4/5

Elantris used to be the city of the gods. Those who woke up as Elantrians were worshipped. Then, one day, Elantris fell. What once was beautiful began to decay.

When the crown prince of Arelon, Raoden, becomes Elantrian, he decides to rebuild the city from within. Meanwhile, his betrothed Sarene battles outside the once great city to keep it safe from Jaddeth fanatics, in particular one bothersome priest: Hrathen.

I really liked this story. It was a unique fantasy and even better, it was only one volume (though the ending did hint that there could possibly be a sequel). There was plenty of angst, but it was balanced nicely with plenty of humor. Sanderson did a marvelous job of tying up all the loose ends by the end of the book so there were no details that made you go "But wait! What about that one thing!"

The only thing I really didn't like about this book was a lack of character depth. Sarene was a very good character but she had very few faults. The biggest thing was she was too smart in a time where feminism was looked down upon. Raoden had zero faults. He was loved by all. He's funny, witty, and charming. Everything he does contributes only good. It's actually quite annoying. The only characters who were really interesting were Hrathen and Dilaf, both bad guys. Hrathen was the standard bad guy who didn't really want to hurt anyone and Dilaf had been driven crazy by the death of wife. Both interesting backgrounds, but when one's a stereotype and one is just an excuse to be completely evil, it doesn't produce the best story.

In short, throughout the entire book, I kept thinking to myself: "This is really, really good but something is just...off." I still think it's worth reading because for some reason, it's fairly easy to overlook the lack of character depth. It is only Sanderson's debut novel and I plan on reading his Mistborn trilogy soon. Hopefully, he will have improved upon this point.

52.

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
Rating: 4/5

Sookie's broken up with Bill and decided she wants nothing to do with the supernatural world. She's tired up being beaten up, used, and abused. That was before she saw Eric, sheriff of District 5, running down the road half-naked with no memories. Now she's become his keeper, protecting him from a coven of angry witches, all the while dealing with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of her brother.

Like the first three books, this one was fun to listen to. I've always liked Eric so I was particularly partial to an Eric-centered book. Another thing I liked is this seems to be where the series as a whole breaks away from the mold. From book one the reader's assumed Sookie and Bill are meant to be together. However, Sookie left him, tired of inconsiderate attitude, and she actually ends up with Eric in this book.

I'm a bit worried, however, that this is heading in the "hot main characters sleeps with every male" direction. There's been chemistry between Eric and Sookie from day one, so this book didn't bother me but if it keeps heading in the above stated direction, the series is seriously going to decline. Not only is that card overplayed (i.e. Anita Blake), but it wouldn't jive with Sookie's personality. As it is stated several times throughout the books, she's a good Christian girl who doesn't understand how people can have sex without loving each other first.

I like the series so far and hope it remains consistently good.

53.

Cat & Mouse by James Patterson
Rating: 3/5

In this installment of Patterson's Cross series, Cross again faces Gary Soneji, who has taken to committing his crimes in public places full of possible victims. Meanwhile, a new serial killer has taken over Europe. Mr. Smith has been brutally killing his victims in a pattern only he knows while Thomas Pierce, fiance of Smith's first victim, tries to stop him.

Standard Patterson novel here. Nothing unique or original happens. There's a nice little twist about 2/3 of the way through the book when you find out the true identity about Mr. Smith, but that's about it. Patterson is good if you want a book that you can read for twenty minutes or so, put down for a week, and when you pick it up, you haven't forgotten a thing. Still, his novels are getting a bit repetitive and I've resolved to buy no more of his books. In fact, I might put my copies up on BookMooch for the shelf space. Lord knows I'll probably never reread them...

Looking at the books I've read recently, I've kind of gone into a "guilty pleasure" comfort zone and as a reader, I haven't really been challenging myself too much. I went through some of my tougher books and have already started reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and will start (as soon as my book arrives in the mail) Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. I'm looking forward to the challenge of these two difficult works!

I'll also hopefully be picking up the nonfiction book I stopped reading ago. I need to read some serious stuff for a little bit!

#246: I think we all go through those jags - I know I do - when we want reads that are comfortable for us. Eventually, we get back to reading serious stuff, too.

#246 & #247 - yep, I've been stuck in that rut lately too! Slowly emerging... I feel no guilt though ;)

RebeccaAnn, your comments on Haunted have made me want to give it another try - I got about half way through it a couple of years ago and had to take a break from it - I just kept hoping it would get less gruesome and it never did! I haven't given up on it, but it's definitely near the bottom of my TBR pile - maybe I'd better shift it up. Regarding his other work, the only other one I've read is Lullaby - by I enjoyed that very much...

Les Liaisons Dangereuses is also on my tentative "read this year" list, so I'll look forward to your comments...

edited to make touchstones work

>247 alcottacre:: Glad it's not just me :P I have some Tolstoy, Steinback, more Dickens and Dumas waiting for me that I think I'll read when I've finished my Dickens and Lacios. They're all huge books so I should be occupied for quite some time.

>248 flissp:: I'm glad you're willing to give Haunted another shot. It doesn't really get less gruesome and the ending is a bit weird, but I really enjoyed all the little stories.

If you're interested in doing a group read of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, you can go here. It just started a couple days ago so you'd have plenty of time to read (I haven't even started because my book hasn't gotten here yet...). Anyone else who wants to join in is also free to do so!

Re Haunted - I always felt like a bit of a wimp for putting it down to be honest, but it probably was partly because it was a work lunchtime reading book (hmmm) - thank you for reminding me it's on the shelf!

Also, many thanks for the Dangerous Liaisons group read link - definitely looks like a good idea, I'll be checking it out...

Hi RebeccaAnn!

I'm reading true crime stories lately and it is a break from the stress of work, of life and of migrane headaches.

I understand the concept of "guilty pleasure." One of the things I most like about the 75 challenge group is the NO guilt of what we are reading.

Life provides enough stress, guilt and seriousness. Thus, reading is for pleasure!

I don't really feel guilty for reading guilty pleasures. I guess a better way to think of it (at least for me) is this:

When you exercise, you need to do the hard stuff like running, cardio, and serious weight-lifting in order for your body to function at its best. Any exercise is good, but those workouts that leave you absolutely out of breath with endorphins running high are amazing for you.

On the other hand, you also need lax days of exercise as a break. These are the days where you do something light: take a slow walk around the neighborhood, do some yoga, or do nothing at all. There is such a thing as working out too hard and your body needs the breaks.

Likewise, your minds need nourishment. You need the hard stuff to grow intellectually. That's what Dickens, Hemingway, Dumas, Tolstoy, Hugo, Dostoevksy, Cervantes, most nonfiction, poetry, and numerous others are there for. They're the workouts that leave you unable to move but feeling oh so good about yourself.

But you need breaks too, even for your mind. You need the literary equivalent of saying you exercise by getting up to go to the fridge for another beer. For me, my breaks are crime thrillers and fantasy novels. They're mind candy. They're my literary dessert, and I need both the big main course and the dessert to be happy. I get bogged down with just huge tomes to read, no matter how insightful they are, and I get bored with just my "guilty pleasures" because my mind isn't being stimulated. I need a balance of both in order to get the most of my reading and lately, all I've been eating is cake and eclairs. They're good, but not nutritious, if you know what I mean.

Anyways, that's how I view my reading. I know other people don't and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Every person is different and every person has different needs, physically and intellectually. Our situations in life are different and so what we need to take from our reading is different.

Happy reading! (whatever it may be :P )

Nice analogy RebeccaAnn!

Why thank you!

ditto what jayde1599 said!

54.

Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death by Jessica Snyder Sachs
Rating: 4/5

In this work of nonfiction, we are treated to a semi-brief overview of the history of attempting to pinpoint time of death beginning with primitive methods such as surface temperature and ending with capturing gases emitted from a decaying corpse and using an electronic "nose" to decipher the contents. As a mystery lover (I've seen every episode of CSI to date), I thought this would be the perfect book for me.

Honestly, I found the first two or three chapters excruciatingly painful to get through. Those chapters took me months of reading a few pages, then putting the book down for a week. Wash, rinse, repeat. However, once I got into the entomology section (the study of bugs), I found myself extremely interested in what I was reading and finished the rest of the book off within a few days. I liked Sachs's style. It was easy to read, though at times it got a bit too science-y for me to follow. During those chapters, I admit I skimmed some paragraphs but I was easily able to get back into the subject matter later.

It also seems as if an unfair portion of this book is devoted to entomology. I don't know if that's because we just haven't developed much past this, but somewhere between half and three quarters of the book is devoted to bugs alone. Her introduction misleads you, making you think you're going to be reading equally about entomology, botany, and chemicals in estimating time of death. Botany only had two chapters devoted to it while chemicals only got a measly one chapter.

All in all, a good book from which I learned many interesting things (such as a body buried in an air-tight lead coffin will not decay because no bugs/scavengers can get to it and the lead kills all the bacteria in the body) and if you, like me, love a good mystery, this will definitely offer a whole new insight into those stories.

I just stumbled across your thread and had to add, "Nice list!" :)

I noticed you read Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton awhile back, and I couldn't agree with you more. Obviously sex sells, but the more updated covers are a bit misleading (though I like them compared to the older ones, which look more comic-y -- is that a word??). In fact, the following 4 or so books are pretty sexless. My interest in the series kinda fizzled out last year when I reached book 4, but I may pick them up again. No rush though.

I see the Skinny Bitch books all the time @ work but have never had the interest in cooking--thankfully, I might add, after reading your review of it. I'm vegan too and appreciate PETA's, um, enthusiasm, but I don't like being bossed around, which the title seems to promise.

Oh, and thanks for reading/reviewing Chuck Palahniuk's books. I've seen them a lot (especially his newest: Pygmy), but I've never been able to find one at my local secondhand bookstore. Haunted sounds like a keeper.

>257 saraslibrary:: *waves hi*

It's so nice to meet a fellow vegan with the same views of PETA! I've always felt their hearts are in the right place but their methods just screw them over.

I feel no need to continue with Hamilton's Vampire Hunter Series. I was unimpressed with the first book and from what I've heard, I wouldn't want to read the series past book seven or eight (when she starts sleeping around). I agree, sex sells, but it has to be tasteful. Otherwise, I throw it under the label of pornography and turn to something else.

I hope you do check out Haunted. Most of the stories are amazing and it's definitely a book that will stay with you, in the back of your mind, bits and pieces coming forward at the oddest moments...

This thread seems to be getting a little unwieldy and it seems as if 250 is the common numbers of posts to start a new thread, so here is part two of 75 books challenge. Hope to see you all over there!