Tad's Reads for 2010 - Part 1

2009 Final Four For Fiction
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

2009 Favorite Non-fiction
Emmet Gowin: Changing the Earth by Jock Reynolds
Grand Obsession by Perri Knize
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

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2008 Final Four For Fiction
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Random Harvest by John Hilton
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

2008 Favorite Non-fiction
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
Night by Elie Wiesel
Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

Whew! There for a while I thought you were not going to join in the fun for 2010, Tad. I am glad to see you back.

I hope you are not still being overwhelmed with work, life, and other miscellany :)

Well, there you are. I enjoy following your reads and glad your in for 2010.

Starred! Looking forward to see what you're reading. :)

Hi Tad. Thanks for posting your favs - it gives immediate food for thought.

(Your link over on the intro page doesn't quite work).

>6 kiwidoc: Thanks, Karen. Apparently LT isn't psychic enough to understand that, when I typed '-', I really meant '="...

Starred!

I forget, Tad, whether you still have two Jane Austen novels left to read this year? I'm reading my last two in 2010 - Emma and Mansfield Park.

>8 Cait86: Yep, Cait, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey—I'm forgiving myself Sanditon becuase she didn't finish it. We could do MP together. :-)

I'm told that these last two are the least-enjoyable of her six, but I'm going to approach them with an open mind...maybe I'll love them!

Tad - I am not quite sure what your ER statistics mean. Could you explain to this dimwit!

Excellent! Welcome back!!

>10 kiwidoc:: *smile* This is a continuation of a discussion back on the 2009 thread.

I wrote an email to Abby asking about the ER selection process. Basically, I said that I didn't mind not getting them because I have way too many books sitting on my shelves waiting to be read as it is, but that I was curious about why I got a bunch at the beginning and then none for a year.

- Had they changed their selection criteria?
- Did they favor newcomers as a matter of policy to make them feel welcome?
- My library was becoming more diverse; did that confuse the selection algorithm?
- My library, while certainly nowhere near some in size, was relatively large...did that dilute some essential weighting factor?
- I tended to request 15-20 each period; did that hurt?
- Is there a prejudice against people whose names start with 'T'? :-)

I didn't really care...I was just curious.

The answer boiled down to, "Oh no, it's completely random."

I am, therefore, enjoying myself a bit as I watch this. The chances of getting 7 hits in a row in a random distribution were vanishingly small. Now I'm marking the streak of misses (17 so far) to see if it, also, lies on the outer fringes of the distribution curve.

I do have a theory. LT has borrowed the Infinite Improbability Drive from the Heart of Gold and is using it. :-)

Anyway, ignore it...it's just the nerd in me.

Aha ..found you and starred you

> 12
I like the nerd in you :-)

Well - thats interesting, Tad. I also sign up for the ARCs and think I missed two before scoring with the latest one again. So I think it has been about a 50/50 chance for me. (and I only request one or two each time as I don't want to read many of them).

Did you review all the ARCs you received?

Sorry that this is a repeat discussion. I will have to pay more attention in future (a New Year Resolution perhaps).

>15 kiwidoc:: Yeah, all 7 were reviewed within 30 days.

Honestly, I don't believe that they have it in for me...I just think there is something very non-random in their selection software (I assume it's done by some routine in their code base).

It would be interesting to create a second account, put in the same first few hundred books I entered on this one, then see what happened when I requested books. But, I'm too lazy to make the effort, especially because most of the ARCs have been only fair, at best...bad investments of time. I've got 50 or so books sitting in the house waiting to be read and a ton on the Wish List that I can get from the library, so I'm content to sit and enjoy this.

Hi Tad and Cait, I'll be reading my last Austen, MP, probably in February. I will look forward to your comments regarding it.

Hi Tad,

Caught part of the ER discussion earlier and you made me laugh, especially when someone asked you if you snagged one and you said "no, why would you think so." Anyway that and the fact that we both loved Three Day Road and The Yiddish Policeman's Union has made me star your thread so I can follow your reading.

Glad you're back, Tad. I, for one, am pulling for you on the ER distribution. maybe we should start some kind of a petition drive. Of course, if it's all random, that should prove no help. I think there is something going on there. I am just unconvinced that the books are truly distributed according to the "monkey with basketballs" rules. I continue tpo get one about two out of every three months.

Whatever, I am glad that you and your internal nerd are back!

The ER distribution is strange. I received six in a row, one five months later, and one seven months after that. I keep at it, though, because I've received some interesting books that I wouldn't have otherwise read (and some pretty horrible ones, but at least I didn't buy them!).

Not having to buy them - that's probably the best part of the ER books. To date, sadly, I have to say that I have read only one really good book - The Indifferent Stars Above - everything else has ranged from dross to dreadful. Why, oh why, I keep asking myself do you keep choosing books that you know are very likely to be unadulterated crap and I know the answer lies in the 'free' aspect. Will I ever learn? (Doubt it.)

Tad, you crack me up with your ER statistics! I love it!
Looking forward to reading with you in 2010!

#9 - Sure, reading Mansfield Park at the same time sounds great! I'm going to try and read Emma in January, so any time after that is good with me. Just let me know when you are going to start :)

Well, I dutifully submitted ER requests every month for nearly a year after joining LT without so much as a single bite. I chalked it up to not having enough of my own library listed, having subjects covering too wide a range, being too new a member, etc., but most of those are the opposite of your conditions, so they seem to be canceling each other out.

I eventually decided that I'd rather devote my time to reading threads on this group and others than reading ER summaries. The groups are much more interactive and fun and actually provide me with some great additions to my TBR. And I can still read whatever I want :o)

Good to see you again, Tad.

Happy New Year, Tad!

I'm always pleasantly surprised when I receive notice that I'll be receiving an ER book. I've received 5 this year. I dutifully submit ER requests each month, but then given the number of people submitting similar requests, I'm not surprised that I'm not getting more.

Tad! It is wonderful to find your thread.

All good wishes for a wonderful New Year filled with delightful reads.

I've had 3 books from the ER programme in total - one of which I still owe a review on, which is very rude of me as it was the one I enjoyed most. They've all been really good, actually - 3-4 stars.

I've stopped requesting since my last one, though, as there hasn't been much coming up that I actively want to read, and life feels way too short to request books I'm not actually all that interested in.

I really can't understand your stats, though, Tad - especially as you're so diligent about reviewing non-ER books too! Hope you get a win soon.

Happy New Year, Tad. Got you starred again.

Tad, I won't be requesting any ER's in 2010 because I'm so intent on working on my TBR's. So maybe that will up your chances a teeny, weensy, eensy bit. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Tad! I'm off to read The Riddle-Master of Hed. :-)

Tad, I won't be requesting any ER's in 2010 because I'm so intent on working on my TBR's. So maybe that will up your chances a teeny, weensy, eensy bit. Happy New Year!

I wish I had that willpower, Lynda! I haven't even been that impressed with the ER books I have received, but somehow they always call to me from the list....

I no longer request ER because I feel guilty when I don't have the time to read and review them.

I guess you've stopped reading your 2009 thread? I'm very curious about what 50 you gave.

>34 CanadaPile:: No, I didn't really stop reading it. I've just been busy. :-D

I didn't keep a list. Here's what I remember: Blindness by Saramago, Breakfast with Tiffany by Wintle, Cooking with Fernet Branca by Hamilton-Paterson, Jamila by Aitmatov, Kavalier and Clay by Chabon, Lord Jim by Conrad, Potiki by Grace, Random Harvest by Hilton, The Egg and I by MacDonald, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Barbery, Three Day Road by Boyden, My Name is Aram by Saroyan, I Capture the Castle by Smith, The Fish Can Sing by Laxness, The Kapillan of Malta by Monsarrat, Straight Man by Russo, The River Between by Thiong'o, The Wood Wife by Windling, Translation is a Love Affair by Poulin, 84, Charing Cross Road by Hanff, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Drayson, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Lewycka, A Town Like Alice by Shute, Callisto by Krol, Confederates in the Attic by Horwitz, Midaq Alley by Mahfouz, A Clash of Civilizations in an Elevator by Lakhous, Murder Must Advertise by Sayers, No Garlic in the Soup by Wibberley, The Island of Dr. Moreau by Wells, The Fencing Master by Perez-Reverte, The Little World of Don Camillo by Guareschi, The Magnificent Ambersons by Tarkington, Cradle of the Deep by Lowell, Death at La Fenice by Leon, Floating Island by Kimbrough, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome, The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Ross, Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Godden,

...that's all that I can remember easily. Sorry.

Howdy :) hoping to stay current with you this year, but I wouldn't place any bets on it .... ack!

ETA Loved the summaries way back up at the top :)

Oh boy, for all the conversation we were having about ER books, you'd THINK that would remind me that I've got 2 pending which I've yet to read..... but nooooo..... I completely forgot that I've got them on my bookshelf (one that I thought I'd cleverly reserve for ARCs and ERs ....but I didn't stop to consider my pathetic memory) which I received last year.

Wouldn't you know, I received a reminder today that I've yet to submit a review for one I received back in September. I'm going to need to get to the both of them at some point this month ..heck, this week I think.

#1 : Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War by Assia Djebar, translated by Marjolijn de Jager

African Literature, 233 pages



Bottom Line: Movingly written, beautifully translated, definitely recommended.

---

My comments on this one, together with those on her (as yet, unread) The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry, will be in the next Belletrista.

ETA: The more I think about this book, the more I'm inclined to 4½ stars.

I think LT needs to post a 'how to' thread because I'm a complete dunce when it comes to adding book covers and changing fonts here.

and now to copy that somewhere on paper so I never forget. I suppose, practice makes perfect .... now off to do some practicing....

Thanks for the tip, Tad. One more question, please .... how do you bold something?

thanks for the primer Tad - I just went back and added covers to my posts for the challenge!

Since I found your HTML basics thread, I will now turn your thread back to its proper purpose .... that of book discussion. :-) Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Children of the New World has already made it to my wish list. Thanks for the recommendation.

#2 : First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

Fantasy, Codex Alera #6, 480 pages



Bottom Line: Well done as an ending to a fantasy series I really enjoyed. If you don't like that genre, read no farther, because this is solidly epic fantasy. If you do, it's worth a look.

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This book felt like the ending to the series. I really hope it is because it's the right time.

Don't get me wrong; this isn't some backhand way of saying I didn't like the book. I did like it; I liked the whole series. However, I feel like good stories have a natural arc to them and should come to a conclusion. The alternative is that they wander on somewhat aimlessly, each episode becoming harder and harder to distinguish from the last one...a cash cow for the author but empty reading calories for the audience.

Assuming this really is the ending, Butcher has done it well. Tavi's story has come to a natural resting place without feeling forced. The tempo was maintained nicely, avoiding that dreaded multi-volume-build-up-ACK!-sudden-resolution that is so commonly found among fantasy authors who want to describe their world to you in loving detail but have lack the writing chops to pace a story. He's achieved at least some level of triumph over the problems facing him and gotten the girl (well, maybe she got him...), yet this isn't one of those tales where the hero saves the princess, eliminates war and cures world hunger. Characters and readers, alike, are left knowing that very real, major problems lie ahead and not everyone will live happily ever after. The characters' lives will go on, for good and for bad, after the last page.

I like Butcher's writing. He keeps a fast pace and the people in his tales feel real. The whole concept of a shepherd boy who is secretly "something more" is so utterly and impossibly trite that any author attempting it is coming to bat with two outs, two strikes and an unfriendly ump in the bargain. But, a novel look at magic, fast pace, and characters that weren't caricatures combined to make this a sextet of books I'm happy to have tried.

Tad,

Will I be able to add book covers to my profile page using this format? I tried it by right clicking on the work page to get the image line and it wouldn't work.

>46 brenzi:: Bonnie, yes, you can.

You get image addresses by right-clicking on images, not work pages. Go to the Work Page, click on "Change Cover" to get to the cover selection and then copy the image's location.

Btw, HTML discussions over here, if you don't mind.

Thanks so much Tad. Thanks for setting up the other thread and I promise, no more HTML questions here.

argh I still don't have the last one, but I have been eyeing the others and considering a reread...

Tad : Thanks for the Butcher reminder. I have Furies of Calderon in my TBR that I have yet to get to. I will move this up the pile since the series has gotten such resounding praise from everyone I know who have read it or are in the process of reading it.

Happy New Year, Tad! Have found and starred your new thread, plus added Children of the New World to my wishlist, and am anticipating your review. :)

For the Group Read...



#3 : Triplanetary by E. E. "Doc" Smith

Reread, Science Fiction, Golden Age, Lensman #1, 240 pages



Bottom Line: You have to go into these expecting 1930s pulp fiction with all that entails. If you do, this is a fun series though this first book is by far the weakest link, rating a star less than the other books.

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Every time I see the Jack Gaughan covers (I'm sorry, all others simply don't cut it) I get nostalgic for when I first read this series. These books are corny as hell, they view the "gals" as needing big, strong men to protect them, the science will strike you as quite funny, and there's nary a doubt about who the bad guys are and who the good guys...or which will win in the end. But still, they're wildly exuberant and fun, and they invite you to just sit back and enjoy without judgment.

That said, Triplanetary is far and away the weakest book in the series. Part of that, I'm sure, is due to it having started out as an unrelated story that was reworked after the fact to fit into the Lensman chronicles. Another part is that it's all pre-history to the real story line and, therefore, you don't really bond to the characters as much, especially since it's a series of short episodes jumping through the generations.

It's a lightning quick read, so just zip through it and on to First Lensman to see if you like this series.

>45 TadAD: - Tad - What a great review of First Lord's Fury! I had Jim Butcher on my TBR list from 2009, thanks to you. Do you prefer the Codex Alera books or the Dresden Files? Or are both good? I'm just trying to figure out where to start!

Your first book lands on my TBR - which now is so big that I will need to live to 120 to get through it, or retire this year and turn into Stasia.

I got 4 ER books each month from Sept to Dec... though I think statistically it's a bit different because there are some books that are only available to Canadians, and I seem to have a lot less competition for them.

Can't wait for all your 2010 reviews... I started the Solar Queen series because of you!

#54: I could use the company :)

>53 porch_reader:: Do you prefer the Codex Alera books or the Dresden Files?

Amy, that's a tough one—they're very different and I have enjoyed both.

Probably Dresden Files by a small margin. I like the characters in them a bit better—that kind of snappy, noir-ish humor appeals to me in books and movies. However, somewhere around Book #8 or #9 he started wandering vaguely around with the overall story line...exactly the kind of thing I was alluding to above about "endless series". The most recent book (#11) seems to be pulling it back together, but we'll see if he can sustain that. If not, I'll eventually lose interest and dump the series. It won't be the first or the last where I finally just say, "enough!"

In contrast, the Codex Alera stuff is really traditional epic fantasy...more Eddings' Belgarion (though much better done, imo) to The Dresden File's Philip Marlowe feel.

>54 kiwidoc:: which now is so big that I will need to live to 120 to get through it

Karen, I look at it as a Darwinian thing (LT and the 75 Challenge having been created especially for my personal benefit). I read about 150-180 books a year, so I keep my TBR pile at about that level. As I LibraryThing my way along, the likely-better tend to displace the not-so-better in that list. If I live to be really, really old, I'll be reading only books I love. N'est-ce pas?

:-D

ETA: As a couple days have passed, I find myself continuing to think about that book. I really liked it...may have to bump its star rating a bit, we'll see. I've started the third of her books that I'm reading—so far, so good.

>55 Cauterize:: Did you enjoy the Solar Queen books? There's a lot of nostalgia in them for me going way back.

Tad
I anxiously await your comments to be posted on Belletrista. It is such a wonderful endeavor and you all deserve a lot of credit.

>57 TadAD: - Thanks Tad! It sounds like I can't go wrong either way, but I think I'll start with Storm Front.

@59: I just read the first one, and I really liked the world-building. The whole concept of Trade - I like frontier SF like that because it makes me feel that I'd be raring to sign up for space travel ASAP.

#4 : The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories by Assia Djebar, translated from the French by Tegan Raleigh

African Literature, Algeria, 215 pages



Bottom Line: Moving, appalling, mesmerizing—six, semi-fictional short stories and a novella set in the mid-1990s, when some 200,000 Algerians were assassinated.

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As I mentioned above, my comments on this one and Children of the New World will be in Issue #4 of Belletrista.

#63 I ask, why do humans continue to hurt each other?

Good question Lynda. I always marvel at the back stabbing that goes on in my office department...No, they don't kill each other, but maim with jealousy and petty soul-harming nastiness. God help someone who gets an award because the comments fly regarding the unimportance of such an honor.

My point is that if this happens to a group who has worked together and known each other for many years, how in the heck can the world be held together kindly when it contains alll these folk with various cultures whom we don't even know.

#5 : The Ivankiad by Vladimir Voinovich, translated from the Russian by David Lapeza

Humor, Soviet Era, 141 pages



Bottom Line: A satirically funny story of Soviet-era bureaucracy through the eyes of a dissident.

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Instead of Greece and Troy we have Voinovich and Ivanko, with the role of Helen played by...the apartment?

The author's story of his struggle for a Moscow apartment rightfully his against the well-connected toady, Sergei Ivanko, is a quick and enjoyable read. Purporting to be a true story, but reading like a novel, the tale tracks the author's battles against bullying, threats, and bureaucratic corruption in this epic little war, complete with clandestine entry into enemy territory.

Voinovich was a Soviet-era dissident author who was forced to flee Russia, only returning after Gorbachev's rise to power.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to trying his more famous work, The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin.

#66: I'm young enough that the Soviet Union was something that was around when I was a kid but by the time I was an adult was gone. It's kind of the way my parents talk about Viet Nam. It leaves me very interested to know about it. Thanks for that recommendation of The Ivankiad.

and onto the wishlist The Ivankiad goes! Thanks for the great review.

Very nice review, Tad. I've added this to my Amazon wish list, too.

Ivankiad has been whisked off to my wishlist following that review. Sounds like something I'll definitely enjoy. Thanks, Tad

Hi Tad
Congratulations on your hot review, listed tonight on the home page!

Yay, I've found you. I couldn't track you down in the mass of threads. My wishlist isn't so happy but ah well, we can't all be happy all of the time.

Whew! Caught up, finally!

I guess I will have to look at some Jim Butcher books--a "new to me" author. You make them sound worth searching out.

#6 : Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris

Mystery, Harper Connelly #4, 306 pages



Bottom Line: The series has reached a natural pause point with several things resolved; perhaps it's time to stop.

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It was a pleasant-enough story but this is another series that it may be time to lay aside. I find that the individual stories are blurring in my mind and, a few days after I finish one, most of the details are gone...a Chinese food type of book, where I'm hungry an hour later. This is true of most "formula" mystery series but seems particularly true of some, including (for me), this one.

It's a good spot to pause—some of the ongoing plot lines such as the relationship between Harper and Tolliver, Harper's missing sister, as well as the as-yet-unmet family members are woven into this story and, upon reaching the final page, there are no cliff-hangers forcing you to wait for the next book.

#7 : The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East by Neil MacFarquhar

Memoir, 359 pages



Bottom Line: A serious look at what's happening in the Middle East from the viewpoint of the (non-government, mostly-non-radical) Arabs. Well written and recommended.

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Neil MacFarquhar was the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times and, in addition to having lived his early years in Libya, spent years as a reporter covering news from Morocco to Iran.

The focus of this book is on providing a perspective into the Middle East that is centered on the struggle by individuals for basic human rights, to sustain a religious life in the face of hatred from without and extremism from within, and to build a society that is uniquely theirs rather than a pallid copy of the United States. MacFarquhar's sympathies for these goals are quite apparent—hope for the region, as he sees it, lies in established human rights and freedoms that allow a society to develop, not in America institutions forced into place colonially.

His gentle-but-clear criticisms are directed impartially at the despotic monarchies; at regimes that displace the monarchs in the name of the people, only to replace them with equally repressive governments; at violent fundamentalist groups; at short-sighted U.S. and Israeli policy in the region that is making matters worse.

In a way, I think the title is unfortunate; it almost gives a sense of frivolity. There's nothing frivolous about this book. Even the fact...admittedly somewhat amusing...that MacFarquhar gets birthday cards from Hizbollah was couched in a larger discussion of how that organization deals with the media as part of its strategy.

The book is extremely readable. Deftly weaving between personal anecdotes, enough history to give context, and the words and stories of Arabs themselves, MacFarquhar keeps the pace of the book moving. More importantly, it had an impact—I won't think about certain aspects of the Middle East in quite the same way again.

Recommended.

book #7 is going on the tbr pile. And, I want to thank you again for your html assistance. I feel so very proud! This weekend I was able to give the image size for book covers, import them on my new thread and I figured out home to link the thread by referencing the word "here"...

I feel so darn empowered thanks to you!

#8 : Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake

Mystery, Hard Case Crime #44, 253 pages



Bottom Line: Classic, fun pulp mystery.

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Prop2gether recommended this series to me and the first one I tried was worth it.

Hard Case Crimes has set out to revive the pulp mystery fad of the 40s, 50s and 60s...from the covers to the prose. The series includes reprints of some of the better examples from that era (including early works by some authors that were relatively unknown at that time but are now bestsellers) as well as works by new authors.

I always loved Westlake's stories and this one turned out to be no exception. It's got that distinctive wise-acre humor overlaid on a tale complete with bookies, mobsters, dames and car chases. I had fun.

The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday goes on the wish list (the ones I plan to get from the library this year.) I may even be compelled to buy it--it sounds like a "must read!"

It's interesting the spelling of Hizbollah rather than Hezbollah. According to my spell check, he's wrong. I wonder how much time my spellchecker spent in the Middle East. :-)

>78 MusicMom41:: I thought that was interesting, also, particularly since MacFarquhar speaks Arabic.

I went over to Wikipedia and looked at the pronunciation of the Arabic. Sure enough, an 'i'.

(Arabic: حزب الله‎ ḥizbu-'llāh(i), literally "party of God")

I guess it's just another case of Western ears not listening enough. :-)

#9 : Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block

Mystery, Hard Case Crime #1, 205 pages



Bottom Line: Another Hard Case offering...only this one is very dark. I enjoyed the writing more but liked the story less than the first in this series I tried.

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Let me start by saying I love Lawrence Block's books. I find his Bernie Rhodenbarr novels some of the funniest mysteries out there; his Keller stories so wildly improbable that I can't help but love them; Matthew Scudder's struggles with alcoholism realistic and vivid; and so on through each of his series. That said, I wasn't as wild about this offering.

The problem is that there's simply no way for me to like the main character, not even a little bit, and that's not something I expect from this author. I kept trying to root for him, but I got to page 205 and it hadn't happened.

And yet, I kept reading. The writing is tough and fast-paced, exactly the pulp style that Hard Case Crime wants to revive. The resolution of the drama was somewhat surprising and the final paragraphs of the book very much so. It left me feeling bleak and grim, exactly Block's intention, I'm sure.

So, I'm forced to say it was better written but less fun than the first HCC book I tried (Westlake's Somebody Owes Me Money).

I'd recommend it but, if you're an existing Block fan, leave your expectations behind.

I'm enjoying your reviews of these noir mysteries and wanting to read some--but I can't buy them for a while. Would getting out the two Raymond Chandler novels that are waiting for me on my shelves be a good substitute? I also have a Dashiel Hammet I haven't gotten to yet--The Dain Curse.

Butting in here, but Hammet is the master and father of the genre. You can't go wrong. Chandler is also wonderful.

TadAd, have you read Stephen King's Hard Case Crime? The Colorado Kid

Hi--glad to hear you're enjoying the Hard Case series. Like any other series, there's some good, some meh, but mostly I've enjoyed the noir atmosphere. Plus they are great "palate cleansers" between other genres. And The Colorado Kid was pure King. I really enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone.

#75/77/80: Adding all recent reads to the BlackHole. Thanks for the reviews and recommendations, Tad.

>81 MusicMom41:: Carolyn, I'd agree with Mac, you can't go wrong trying those two.

>82 blackdogbooks:: Mac, no, I haven't. I'll get to it eventually as I plan to little by little read my way through this series.

>83 Prop2gether:: Laurie, thanks for recommending them.

>84 alcottacre:: Stasia, the nice thing about a black hole is that it will collapse the books to almost no size whatsoever, making storage not an issue.

#82 BDB, I'd have to agree, Dashiell Hammett is fantastic (and I'm not even much of a thriller/mystery fan...)

#85: Yep - that is why the name is so utterly appropriate for me :)

>80 TadAD:: Tad great review, I have only read the first of the Keller mysteries but have been interested in reading other books by Block. I forgot that he had been writing for so long, something like 30+ years.

I pop in for a quick visit and look what happens...... I end up adding your last 3 reads onto my wishlist. *scrambling quickly to leave before another book pops up here*

#10 : Report From Practically Nowhere by John Sack, illustrated by Shel Silverstein

Memoir, Travel, 232 pages



Bottom Line: Great potential but little flaws kept it from living up to it.

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The Authors Guild has an effort to republish older best-selling books that have fallen out of print. John Sack's account of traveling to thirteen countries so small that the world was largely unaware of them has floated around on my "Read Someday" stack for decades and this republishing let me get to it finally.

The book is a light and quick read and Sack's writing is generally humorous and easy-going. There are plenty of amusing anecdotes. Liechtenstein does a brisk tourist trade in cuckoo clocks, not because they are made there, but because tourists expect cuckoo clocks anywhere in the Alps and the Liechtensteiners are happy to oblige. In the war between Sharja and Dubai, the two sides fired cannonballs at each other, but with insufficient powder to reach the enemy...who would promptly run out in to the field, grab the harmless cannonballs and carry them back to their lines to fire...again with insufficient powder.

This is the kind of book that has an easy time getting 3½ stars from me. I love humor, I love travel literature and I love books about the unusual or little known. It started out well and, on the whole, it passed a pleasant afternoon. However, little things nibbled away at my impression. None were enough to fault the book all on their own, but a quarter star here, a quarter star there...

Part of it isn't really Mr. Sack's fault. The world of 1955—pre-OPEC, pre-Grace Kelly and the antics of her offspring (she married in 1956)—was a different place and the United Arab Emirates and Monaco may not have been place names familiar to the casual reader as they are today. And, places like Amb, Punial and Sikkim have disappeared, swallowed into the greater Pakistan and India, making them much less interesting than a tiny nation.

But, laid at his feet, I expect authors of this kind of thing to get their facts right. For example, the humor of the entire chapter on Monaco was based upon the first sentence which read in part, "His Most Serene Highness Rainier III...is the only absolute monarch in the Western world." From this, it could go on to explore such topics as, "and if he should step outside...some drowsy afternoon...and slice the heads off ten or a dozen bystanders, it couldn't be questioned that he acted within his rights, although, I suspect, a good deal of grousing would be heard afterwards." But, of course, the Prince isn't...nor has he been since 1911 when the sovereign's absolute powers were stripped and the principality became a constitutional monarchy.

I also noticed that the book spent most of its time poking fun at the inhabitants of each of these countries. It was as if he was saying, "Ah, here's another little place and isn't it just quaint and droll?" The truly funny travel writers...the Brysons and Trillins...know that commenting upon the foibles of one's own culture and personal idiosyncrasies is, in the end, funnier and much less Ugly Tourist.

I haven't given up on Sack as I've always wanted to read his highly controversial An Eye for an Eye: The Untold Story of Jewish Revenge Against Germans in 1945. However, I think what I'd really like is for someone like Trillin to tackle his own version of this tour comprising not only old and established venues like Andorra, Malta and Seychelles, but also some of the more fun and interesting experiments in sovereignty like Sealand, the Principality of Outer Baldonia and Hutt River Province.

#11 : Bonk by Mary Roach

Popular Science, 336 pages in paperback



Bottom Line: Many funny moments, a few squirmy moments...a very well-done look at the facts and fallacies (ok, pun intended) of a tricky subject.

---

This was an audio book for my commute. I've had it sitting on my shelf for a while and Luxx's review a few months ago prompted me to load it onto the ol' iPod.

Up front, I confess to a few moments of squirming in my seat...not from embarrassment...simply cringing at a few mental images from when, as she puts it, "urology approaches high comedy."†

Beyond those brief moments, however, the book is a hoot. Whether covering female orgasms, male erectile dysfunction, or even her own participation in studies, she simply gets down to the science of it, leavening everything with an immense amount of humor that takes it away from dull facts and figures into frank discussion of what's really going on. Yet, for all her humor, there isn't an ounce of voyeurism or smuttiness, making it comfortable, and appropriate, for a wide audience.

Definitely recommended and don't skip the footnotes!

---

† Quite frankly, I defy any man not to wince just a teensy bit at a discussion of...say...forceps #2 and #3 getting stuck inside in an effort to remove forceps #1.

Fine review, Tad. What with your review, elliepotten's and Luxx's reviews, I've added this onto my wishlist. Should make for good reading on the plane, huh? hmm.... I can see it now ... parents keeping their whiney kids away from me and my corrupting reading material.

>92 cameling:: A perfect travel accessory then! :-)

Popping up to say I'm still reading your thread faithfully -- just haven't had much to say :)

I do love your gift to your sis -- wow! Great job :)

A couple of great reviews!

I find Mary Roach's footnotes to be some of the funniest parts of her books!

Just got a Kindle for an early birthday present. Read one page on it last night and then fell asleep. I had some worries that the iPad announcement would create a little buyer's remorse (giftee's remorse?) but now that we know what the latter's all about, I'm happy with the Kindle. It's going to be great for traveling.

One nice thing, even though the Kindle doesn't have the book sharing feature that the Nook has, we put it on the same Amazon account as the one I gave my wife for Christmas and, voilà, Wolf Hall just showed up on mine because it's on hers. Very cool! We have a fair bit of overlap in reading tastes, so no worries that we'll have to exchange Kindles to read the same book.

Congratulations! I really love my Kindle. It will never replace all of my actual books, but it's a great supplement to them. And since I live in an apartment, it takes up much less space. :)

I used it a little at lunch. I like it. As you say, it won't replace my books, but it's not bad. Putting a cover on it really changed the feel from "electronic device" to "book substitute".

Yes, I think the cover is very important. Make it 'feel' like a book and we will enjoy it more!

I got a Kindle for Christmas and I do like it a lot. As you have all said it doesn't replace an actual book, but I like it better than I thought I would. Two things I wish it had were 1) page numbers and 2) that it were backlit. I think it is the wave of the future and eventually we will see fewer and fewer actual books (kinda depressing).

Another depressing thing is that all the bookstores in my area are closing. Last Christmas the Borders near me closed. And this Christmas, the Walden books (Borders owned) in my local mall closed. I did reap a last benefit to both clossings by scoring books at a major discount, but no more book store come on!

I guess I will need to search out for some Indies in my area. Probably a group I should support anyhow, but I have always loved the look and feel of a large book store.

>101 Ti99er:: The technology doesn't allow for backlighting since E Ink isn't transparent. There's also the issue that backlighting is more fatiguing to the eyes over time than reflective lighting. I'm happy with that aspect of it. I picked up an M-Edge cover with a light that is "built-in" and it works quite nicely for low light situations.

On the book store front...that's a shame! I was upset when all the indie bookstores in our area closed (except second hand ones) but there's no dearth of B&N and Borders.

102- Oooooh - a built in light! I want one! I have a faux leather cover which opens like a book, but I have to attach a separate book light to read in the dark.
You don't happen to have the link for that cover, do you?

>103 BookAngel_a::

It's not exactly built-in. It's an accessory that hooks into the cover in a special slot made for it. It lies along the "spine" of the book. When you want to use it, you just swing it up. This stop-motion picture gives an idea

The Media Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday has gone on the wishlist. Thanks, Tad!

>102 TadAD: - I do understand the backlight concept, and do like the quality of the E-ink, I guess I just long for a better lighting solution than having to hang a book light off of the corner.

Following your suggestion I took a look at the M-edge option. It looks like a great cover and light. Unfortunately I like to hold my Kindle "naked" as they say, so that option won't work for me. I will make do, my Kindle Pro list far outweighs the Cons, so onward and upward.

-Scott

Tad
Your birthday isn't until Feb. 12th, yet you got a gift already!!! Wow! How special!

104 - I checked out the M-edge cover and light on amazon. You're right - it is nice. A little bit nicer than what I currently have. But I can make do with my current cover and light for now. It leaves more money to buy books...

Jealous re. the Kindle ............but recently entered the 21st century with an Iphone so feeling quite 'up to date'. Perhaps next xmas for an ebook!

The Djebar book has hit my TBR list - thanks.

>106 Ti99er:: Scott - Sorry, didn't mean to preach! :-)

>107 Whisper1:: Linda - Yeah, we're traveling this weekend for one of my daughters' competitions and my wife decided to give it to me early so I didn't make my usual complaints about lugging multiple books around. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, I guess.

>109 kiwidoc:: Karen - I hope you enjoy your phone. I'm surprised at how much I've come to rely on it. For the first time, having everything I need from contacts and calendar through books and games in something that fits in my pocket is a reality. In a few years, this will all be very passé but, for now, switching from a Razr, it's great!

#12 : Miss Buncle's Book by Dorothy Emily Stevenson

General Fiction, 335 pages



Bottom Line: A light, endearing and humorous novel, perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

---

Thanks to Stasia for this recommendation.

Miss Barbara Buncle is having a hard time making ends meet when her income from dividends dries up. So, Miss Barbara Buncle decides to write a book to supplement her income and, knowing herself to be not terribly imaginative, she writes about what she knows best—the inhabitants of her small village.

Miss Buncle may not be imaginative but it turns out she is extraordinarily talented at observation and, despite changed names, each of her characters is instantly recognizable to their neighbors. Once the book becomes a best-seller...well...as the character of John Walker puts it, "...there are breakers ahead."

I found the story surprisingly engaging, full of endearing characters, light-hearted romance and a quiet humor throughout. It was a perfect book to read while traveling and, upon finishing, I immediately logged into the library's Web site and put a hold on another of her books.

D. E. Stevenson (cousin once-removed to Robert Louis Stevenson) was a popular author in the middle of the 20th century, selling millions of copies in Great Britain and the United States, but her books largely fell out of print. Some are creeping back through small presses; if your library doesn't have an old copy, this one can be found from Persephone Books in the U.K.

I am glad you enjoyed it, Tad.

I've climbed to number 7 on the waiting list at my library--I requested it last November. There aren't very many copies available in the ValleyCat system and it seems that Ms Stevenson has suddenly become popular. Has anybody else noticed that in their libraries? I wonder how that got started--has her book been reprinted in the US now?

Nice review, Tad. I''m more anxious than ever to get hold of it!

#113: The book is increasingly in popularity due to LT, I am sure, Carolyn! :)

>111 TadAD: Hi Tad. Great to see you enjoyed Miss Buncle's Book. I read it at the end of last year and was quite smitten. Mrs Tim of the Regiment (newly re-published by the Bloomsbury Group) is on my TBR for this year. Oh, and on the Kindle issue... I am inching ever closer to getting one (or a Sony ereader) :)

#13 : Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston
#14 : My Dead Body by Charlie Huston


Suspense, Supernatural, Joe Pitt #4 & #5


Bottom Line: A satisfying ending to this series of visceral novels.

---

If you're looking for another Twilight, this isn't it. If we call Meyer's books Vampire YA, full of angst and...well...more angst, and we call Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books Vampire Lite, full of romance, sex and some sanitized violence, then Huston's books are Vampire Grit...Philip Marlowe encounters the dark side and then some. There's very little sex, not much more romance, but people get hurt in this quintet of books. Yet, they aren't really part of the horror genre like Dracula and its progeny; these read exactly like hard-boiled crime novels.

I really liked them for this. In a world where (to use Huston's term) sanguivores exist, it isn't all going to be tall, dark, erotic and handsome. If you think of the Irish gang wars in New York in the 19th century, or the Mob battles during Prohibition, you'll have a good idea of the tone of these books.

Unlike the previous three, Every Last Drop isn't a standalone volume. You need to read it with My Dead Body, the fifth and last book in this series. Otherwise, you'll be left with only half a story. Joe Pitt, ever more beaten and battered, decides that throwing a monkey wrench into the works of the various syndicates is a good idea and, with his usual talent for trouble, succeeds. Huston pulls this all together very nicely, satisfactorily resolving not only the immediate events, but the larger story line, as well.

Huston's novels are generally rather raw and these are no exception. If you want a very different perspective on how "vampires among us" would play out, I recommend this series.

#116: I am going to start looking out for Huston's books. I have heard good things about them. Thanks for the review, Tad!

>117 alcottacre:: He's definitely worth a try, Stasia. I think he does a very good job of giving you the grit without any sense that he's doing it just for shock value. Some authors...even if I enjoy them...leave me with a sense that they're describing violence just to make the reader react. Huston makes me feel like he's just saying, "here's what happened...it ain't pretty, but it's life."

#118: Unfortunately, my local library has exactly one book in the Joe Pitt series and that is number 2. The other two books they have of Huston's appear to be stand alones.

Sounds good, yet another series for the wishlist *sigh*

>119 alcottacre:: I'd send you mine, but it's up at the cabin. Is there a county library system that has Already Dead?

#121: No, the library catalog here covers the county, so if it does not show up in the catalog I have to do interlibrary loans for books, a pain in the rear.

ER results in and I continue to be vindicated in my scorn for LT's ability to write a random number generator. ;-D

#15 : Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

Mystery, 235 pages



Bottom Line: Light on mystery but very strong on characterization; I found it a very enjoyable book.

---

I really enjoyed this book but, if someone specifically wanted a mystery, it probably wouldn't occur to me to recommend it. Why? Well, the book is 235 pages long, the mystery doesn't occur until page 179, and the majority of the remaining pages aren't focused on attempts to solve it.

Instead, the reader is given the opportunity to watch the responses of the individuals, to participate in their reactions to adversity and their struggles of conscience. And that is the strength of this book. The "mystery" is just a vehicle; what Josephine Tey has really crafted here is a study of characters and she's done it extremely well. They seem real enough that you feel you've met someone very much like them at some point in your life.

When all is revealed at the end, it all seems right, both to Miss Pym and the reader, because we've all come to know these people and have some understanding of their desires and their capabilities.

Definitely recommended.

*Bumps Miss Pym Disposes way up the top of the wishlist*

Thanks for that review, Tad. I love Tey's characters, and I can cope with mystery-lite.

>125 Eat_Read_Knit:: You're welcome.

I love them, also. Brat Farrar is probably my favorite of her books so far, though I haven't read The Franchise Affair in a number of years and really enjoyed it when I first read it. I've got Daughter of Time next up on audio book once I finish what I'm listening to now.

I am planning to read Tey's books again this year, having rediscovered them last year with Brat Farrar. It will take a lot to top Daughter of Time for me, though.

Thumbed your review Tad. I've got to push Josephine Tey up the pile.

>128 brenzi:: Thanks, Bonnie.

How's Buffalo weather today? We got a couple of inches of snow last night here in NJ...just enough to make everything look lacy and nice.

#16 : Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton



I swore I'd never read another Laurell K. Hamilton book about 14 books ago. However, I had a long wait at the physical therapist today (snow) and it was sitting there on the receptionist's desk, so I "borrowed" it while waiting.

The fact that I finished it in a waiting room indicates the first problem...though not the largest...I had with it. The inside of the dust jacket says this gobbler was $23.95. The story was less than 160 pages long, with large type. I don't know about you, but that seems a bit steep to me.

The remaining 30+ pages in the volume contained a comic strip (!), an essay on her writing process which I didn't finish 'cause my eyes glazed over, plus an anecdote about a real-life flirt with a waiter that so affected her, shehad to write this story.

But, assume that money is no object to you.

LKH hasn't changed the formula she perfected over the last 16-18 books. Have a very repetitive plot—in this case serial flirting. Have it result in Anita Blake, apparently more powerful than any Marvel superhero, get into a sticky situation. To get out of it, she needs to either: a) chew someone, b) scr** someone (pardon my French), c) both. She chose 'b' in this case and the only thing I can say in defense of this story is that there's less sex in this than in the one that I threw across the room years ago, where it was ¾ of the book.

This seems like nothing but an attempt on the part of LKH/Berkely Books/Both to cash in on whatever remaining fans she has at 15¢ a page rather than deliver a real novel. If you're one of those die-hards, I guess you'll have to read this because she does start up a bunch of sub-plots with which she'll tantalize you but, if true to her past form, won't ever really resolve. Or...just find something better.

This kind of commercial cash-in really annoys me. In general, people are struggling to make ends meet and looking for inexpensive entertainment. LKH has her millions; give the remaining fans a break.

Oh dear - definitely one to miss!

Glad you enjoyed Miss Pym Disposes - and a much better review than mine a couple of weeks ago! I agree regarding Brat Farrar, (I've been singing it's praises to absolutely everyone in this recent Josephine Tey phase ;) ....), but I think you'll enjoy Daughter of Time too - it's a very close tie for first in my affections between those two.

The Charlie Huston books sound interesting. I can't decide whether or not to investigate - I like the idea of crime novel with a bit of vampire thrown in (there're just far too many vampire books around at the moment otherwise), but I'm not much of a crime novel reader - I do love Dashiell Hammett though and it sounds like this might compare a little bit?

>129 TadAD: Actually Tad, the weather today is not bad. A few snowflakes in the air and about 27 degrees; Not too bad for February:)

I should be getting to Miss Pym Disposes shortly, so I was glad to hear your review. It sounds like a book I would enjoy.

Taking note of the Charlie Huston books, though I've promised myself to steer clear of vampires for a good while.

I listened to The Daughter of Time on audio book years ago, and it has stayed with me ever since. For some reason, I've never read another Josephine Tey. I hope to remedy that with the Brat Farrar group read next month...

#130: I am like you, Tad, in swearing of Laurell Hamilton's books. I am glad to know there is nothing to tempt me back with that one.

@130: Noooo...... Tad, you caved!! LOL I can't believe you got suckered into reading another AB! Wasn't there any trashy tabloids to read instead? They even have better written fiction... that whole Jen/Brad/Angelina triangle is way better than the Anita/Micah/JC/EveryMale/Waiter one.

>137 Cauterize:: Honestly, Steph, you're right. Reading about Brangelina would have been better.

Flirt will be arriving on my doorstep this afternoon. ;)

$24 is a steep price for a short book, but Amazon was offering it for $14. Still expensive for 160 pages, but a little better. Hamilton described Flirt as an added bonus for the year, and is still releasing her "regular" book in June (Bullet).

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. I like the AB books; I think they're good smutty fun. But I maintain that there are two kinds of Anita fans, and it sounds like you're the other type. ;)

I thought Skin Trade was a nice balance between the two styles you can find in the series, but maybe I'm wrong.

>139 London_StJ:: Hi Luxx,

I stopped reading after Incubus Dreams. I'm the type of fan who really liked the kick-butt Anita of the early books: a bit unsure of herself, outclassed at times but able to pull through. I didn't mind the sex; the books have had that fun smut since Guilty Pleasures first came out and I enjoyed that. I just got fed up when they became only about the ardeur. I look back on The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned and others from that period and really miss them.

I've heard some people say that LKH has "recovered" a bit from that low but, with so many other series going now, I just let them lie.

It really wasn't the content of Flirt that annoyed me so much as the pricing. I've got a rant building about the whole thing, not just LKH...I know I'm gonna pop soon! ;-)

If you're going to pop this is a great place to do it!

The pricing of ebooks gets to me. Publishers can make a killing with ebooks because (at least from what I can guess) publishing calls nearly disappear.

One of my own complaints about LKH is her cast of characters; she simply as too many of them to keep track of, and too much time is spent trying to keep everyone in line.

>141 London_StJ:: Well, you asked for it, so here's a portion. There are a lot of things that are upsetting me about publishing these days, but many boil down to "companies making billions while the cost of reading skyrockets." I'm not naïve...I understand that publishers are in business to maximize their profits and reward their shareholders. However, that doesn't mean I have to like what they do. It also doesn't mean that I can't be concerned when they act in concert to make reading a much more expensive proposition for the public than it need be.

A few examples:

I'm unhappy with the choices publishers are making when it comes to formats and pricing. This isn't an argument about whether $7.99 is a fair price for a mass market paperback. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. However, more and more, publishers are choosing to print in trade paperback format...lagging the mass market paperback by years sometimes. It's not just new books, we see reprints of old books coming out in trade paperback format (Andre Norton, for heaven's sake!!). Now, a trade paperback uses about 65% more material than a mass market paperback. Yet, if you are lucky, it's only twice the price...it's often more unless the retailer discounts it, sometimes in mid-$20s hardcover range. Even allowing for some extra shipping and handling costs, it's a better money maker for the publisher—a much more expensive solution for the reader.

Let's not even get into things like the LKH above that started this whole topic. Publishing a 160 page story (190 page book) for $24 is a huge money maker. Years ago, "bonus short stories" often came out in paperback as a recognition of this fact. Now...hardback.

ebooks...it's pretty obvious that the incremental costs of ebooks beyond author royalties are virtually zero for a publisher. That's a pretty nice cost situation to be in. Yet, ebooks cost more than mass market paperbacks. For a new book, I can see the rationale that the publisher doesn't want to canibalize their hardcover sales. But once a book is out in paperback??? That's inexplicable to me.

The problem with all of this is that there really isn't an alternative other than libraries...who are facing more and more attacks from publishers, and less and less money from legislators.

The publishing industry watched what happened to the music industry...formerly a multi-billion dollar license to print money that is now "merely" profitable. iTunes took on the music industry the way Home Depot took on home repair and Walmart took on home goods—use massive volume buying to drive the price down. The current generation treats cheap music (I'm not talking about stealing music) as a natural thing. Just log on and buy a song for 99¢ or $1.29.

Amazon tried to do this with ebooks. They instituted a $9.99 price point, even though they lost money on it because publishers didn't reduce their rates. Publishers went along because Amazon was the big dog, even though they were unhappy at what this did to their paper editions. Why were they unhappy? I don't know. Charge as much profit as you did on the paper...save the manufacturing cost...use good DRM to minimize stealing...it sounds like win-win. Yet, they were unhappy...but they were also somewhat stuck.

Unfortunately, Apple caved in its desire to grab some of that pie for their new iPad. They agreed to $14.99 for ebooks. That little chink was all that publishing needed...they can now act in concert to drive Amazon up to $14.99, making ebooks cost what trade paperbacks cost. Macmillan has done it and the others seem to be gearing up to follow suit.

This all upsets me. The fact that they have the right to do it doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't like it when oil companies push gas prices up artifically either. But, like petroleum, it's almost a monopoly when they act in concert. :-(

Tad! Right on!

I deal with the high cost of publications! Increasingly yearbook publishers have gone after each other in a vicious buy out -- pack man fashion. 'm dating myself here, for those of you who are much younger than I am, Packman was a video game wherein the little faces gobbled up each other.

Now, choices are limited and prices are inflated. Sadly, the end result is that the yearbook industry is in grave straights and increasingly high schools and colleges can no longer afford to print. Thus, the very companies that drove the prices sky high, are now finding their greed resulting in a product that is becoming obsolete.

For years, when I met with publishing representatives I would tell them that there is a ceiling regarding what parents/students will pay, even if they can afford to do so. They simply arrogantly told me to raise the cost of the book.

One company padded our final bill so much that I finally got legal representation and canceled our contract.

I couldn't agree with your assessment more! I too am upset with the publishing industry.

By the way, Bookcloseouts.com is a wonderful resource. While it is unlike Amazon in that you cannot always find the book you want, many noteable books are priced for $1.99, $3.99 or at the highest end $5.99...a real deal. And, many times you receive a coupon when you receive your order. My most recent order included a bookmark with a code for $5 off the next order of $35.

#17 : Soulless by Gail Carriger

Paranormal, 384 pages

to

Bottom Line: Ok. It was a pleasant read but seemed unsure of what it was trying to be.

---

This was another Christmas present. I'm not sure if I would have chosen the book for myself because I'm a little supernatural-ed out right now, plus things on the border of the romance genre aren't really my thing, but...

It's a very light, and light-hearted, story...Carriger's writing is definitely humorous and the book moves along well. There's nothing particularly startling about the story. It's somewhat predictable in the mystery/thriller department and totally predictable in the romance department, but neither of those is unusual in those genres. It has a fairly stock set of fantasy elements (vampires, werewolves...yeah, we know, they don't get along) but also some imaginative twists on things that were enjoyable. The central concept of preternaturals (people who suppress all supernatural effects) is uncommon—about the closest thing I can think of is Darling from Glen Cook's excellent Black Company series.

My one real objection to this book is that it seems to be uncertain of its target reader. I'd say that the tone and the writing style had a definite Young Adult feel to them. However, the sex in the book is fairly explicit and, in my opinion, decidedly not Young Adult. It would be better if Carriger either raised the bar on the writing or turned down the volume on who did what to whom...given that the cat is already out of the bag on the latter, the former is preferable.

It's easy to call this paranormal romance and, if that's your thing, this will probably please you. It's easy to call it a mystery/thriller and it will pass an afternoon for fans of those genres. It tries to be a bit of a comedy of manners, but isn't a very good example. I'm certain people are going to call this steampunk because of the combination of Victorian England with anachronistic technology. I guess that might be strictly accurate but the edginess I associate with good steampunk/cyberpunk is completely absent and I don't think I'd give it that label, myself.

I won't rush out to find the next one in the series but, if I see it lying around somewhere, I'll probably read it.

#142: I had no idea that trade paperbacks used so much more material than the mass market paperbacks do, Tad. Thank you for pointing that out. Honestly, I have always preferred hardcover to paperbacks of any variety, but I am guessing they use far more resources than any type of paperback.

>145 alcottacre:: I also love hardbacks. Preferably, old ones. We have a couple second hand stores in our area, one of them seems to focus mostly on older volumes. I love picking up copy of a book published in the 1950s rather than a new edition of the same story.

I wouldn't object to the ebook price if I could be sure that the majority of the funds collected went to the writer. Somehow I think not.

The Internet does provide more opportunity for self-publication, perhaps. It is just the cost of advertising that would be difficult.

I totally agree - Tad - although not enough to read pirated e-books.

#146: I like the old hardcovers, too. I am going to be reading several this year as a matter of fact, for my Writer's Choice challenge. (I guess I should not call them old since most of them are the same age I am, including one of my current reads!)

Very interesting conversation here. I have to say some of the points being made are so well made. The point about music downloads though doesn't address the point that even with iTunes 96% (accoriding to the Wall Street Journal) of music downloads are the illegal variety so probably the book publishers are trying desperately not to allow that to happen.

I sometimes think we LTer's go on the presumption that everybody loves to read which is simply not the case. Young people especially do not read books. The publishers need to fear (rightly) that their industry is dying and figure out how to get the most out of what's published and then actually purchased by the public. There was recently a program on Frontline about multitasking that addressed the habits of young people and it was brought up that English professors can no longer assign books longer than 200 pages because the attention span of young people couldn't and wouldn't handle it. They interviewed MIT students who frankly admitted that they never read books but counted on Sparknotes to get them through those assignments. MIT!! Our best and brightest!! What does that say about the rest of the population.

For myself, I gravitate towards people who are readers (which is why I'm thankful for LT) but I have dinner once a month with four other women that I graduated from college with many, many years ago. I'm the only reader in the group. Sad to say, but I think we LTer's are in the minority.

Sorry for going on and on here Tad.

ETA poor spelling.

>149 brenzi:: Sorry for going on and on here Tad

Bonnie, don't be silly. These are the kinds of things I like in a thread.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much piracy is a factor in this situation. If we look at music, the piracy isn't because of iTunes...in fact, some analysts think that the low prices of iTunes have decreased piracy. The piracy is because individuals take their music and post it up for peer-to-peer downloads, or because foreign sites don't obey American copyright laws...e.g., the million Russian sites where music is virtually free.

If we transfer that over to publishing, then the threat isn't from an Amazon, it's from someone who posts a book on another site. I decided to find out how easy it would be to remove DRM from an ebook...admittedly I'm comfortable with non-user-friendly software but, well, it's trivial. If reading were as popular as listening to music—I know it's not—I'd argue that we'd be seeing about as much piracy and that the Amazons of the world were diminishing it by keeping low prices.

So, the real factor here is that kids don't read as much as they listen to music...and I think that publishers are 180° off in their response. They should be, imo, looking for ways to broaden the number of people willing to read. To me this means a couple things:

1) Embrace publishing that young people can afford. My daughter would love to own copies of the Twilight books. However, she's not going to shell out $12 x 4 for them from her allowance. So, she borrowed them. She says she'll wait until they start appearing on remainder shelves or she can find them second-hand. This might be a bad example because perhaps Meyer gets huge royalties, I don't know. However, the principle is that young people generally have less money, so give them stuff they can afford, not hardcovers and big trade paperbacks unless you're only targeting the Christmas present crowd.

2) Embrace formats that allow you to get the same money for less cost. I don't care how much it costs to print a book...an ebook is cheaper. Put out ebooks at a lower cost but the same profit margin as a hardback for the first year, then drop the price so that it's cheaper than a paperback but, again, has the same profit margin.

3) Embrace technologies that incur new sales. Textbook costs are through the roof. This has created a humongous secondary market in used textbooks of which the publisher sees $0.00. Further, revisions are fabulously expensive and so many schools are not going with the latest revision as a means of keeping costs to their students/school board down. If, instead, a ebook textbook cost some reasonable amount of money, where most of it was pure profit because there were no manufacturing costs, simple supply & demand curves are going to show more money moving into the publishers' hands.

There's even a play on the presence of e-readers out there reviving the magazine and newspaper markets, which are absolutely dying right now. I don't know what studies have been done on this, but I do know that a lot of manufacturers are working on color e-readers with more layout capabilities to handle those markets specifically. I've got to think that more people with an e-reader for newspapers/magazines means more people who might just pick up a book if it was cheap.

#18 : The Year of the Frog by Martin M. Šimečka, translated from the Slovak by Peter Petro

Czechoslovakia, Pegasus Prize for Literature, 247 pages



Bottom Line: I'm very ambivalent about this book: wonderful moments amidst a story line that didn't really move me.

---

In case you didn't know (I didn't), the Pegasus Prize for Literature is awarded for "distinguished works of fiction from foreign authors whose literature is rarely translated into English."

This story by Czech writer Martin Šimečka is set about a decade before the fall of communism and follows Milan, barred from university because of a dissident father, in his struggle to find meaning and identity in his life. His days are filled with unskilled jobs he doesn't really want, a passion for cross-country running and his relationship with an almost unbelievably perfect girlfriend, Tania.

There are moments in this book that astonished me with how real they seemed. Milan's anguish about a patient dying, the sensation of being punched in the gut when you suddenly wonder about a partner's fidelity, all these resonated within me more than most books have managed. Had the entire book maintained that level, this would have been a 4½ or 5 star book.

Unfortunately, these were little gems set into a story that had no real spark. For all the pseudo-philosophizing Milan does—and I don't fault the author for that; it seems like what a young man would do—I was left with a sentiment of, "and so?" As a reader, I felt I was being led to some powerful vantage point from which to look at life, relationships, communism...I don't know, something, anything...and, yet, the spark never happened and the moment was lost.

I'm ambivalent.

Love the conversation re publishing vs book costs. I for one think that Apple is doing us all a disservice by caving to publishers and allowing them to charge essentially the same price for ebooks as paperbacks. I think Amazon has it right. The ebook should be cheaper because there are fewer resources required to generate one compared to hardbacks and paperbacks. The goal should be to get people to read, and given the financial straits of many today, I think the strategy of Apple and the publishers working with them will backfire ...at least I hope so .... and that more people will flock to the Kindle because the ebooks are cheaper. iTunes does well because they offer music cheaply. They should start offering books through iTunes following the same pricing objective.

just wanted to throw some minor fuel to the fire or, more kindly, some food for thought.

eBook prices - Most of the current publishers are using pricing models which have existed for years. In the old days, they could pretty well estimate how many hard cover copies they could sell through book stores, distributors to libraries, etc. and estimate their profit accordingly. The timing of the release of the paperback (particularly before the life of "Trade" paper) was pretty well calculated to kick in when the interest of a "normal" hard cover had gone through the one or two printings they budgeted and thereby launching renewed interest in the title at the lower price and to milk a little more profit out through the sales of the paperback. Paperbacks come out, Hard covers end or are remaindered, so the profit was tied to the paperback. Once those died out, no profit/no royalties. With the right analysis, the profits from the HC plus profits from the PB equal enough to cover costs, pay the author/agents, and (in the case of the big hitters) leave enough left over to cover the costs of those pet projects which will NEVER earn their keep but found a place with the agents who felt they needed to be published.

Now with eBooks, there is a new "option" for profits - but it can also be considered a new threat. Although it makes sense that an eBook should cost less because it doesn't have all of the production costs of a print book (and in fact it does), but it has now also become a profit center. If the purchase price of the rights assumed X number of sales of Hard Cover and those sales end up smaller because too many people start picking up the eBook version because it's cheaper, the publisher will not make the profit it had originally estimated. And anyone who thinks the profits of the publishing industry are too high, just take a look at how many small publishers are struggling or no longer exist or have been acquired by larger publishers. They're not making the new Ma Bell, they are struggling to survive, and a full bevy of artists is the key to success. Quality authors can only churn out a good book once a year tops. The more authors in the family, the more joint marketing, book tours, trade shows, etc. costs can be split between multiple books, and that's why shows like Book Expo, American Library Association, etc. see so much more crowded into booths - and the booths themselves are smaller (ALA cut out 11 aisles of exhibitors in Boston last month because they couldn't sell the space) trying to maximize exposure and reduce costs.

compared to Music - How many 99 cent downloads of music does it take to meet the length of an audiobook? Say the average song lasts 3 minutes. Say the average audiobook runs 8 hours. 20 songs an hour x 8 hours x $1 a download = $160 to get enough songs to equate to the length of a book. Hmmmm, seems like a $20 eBook is a good deal (an even better deal for me because I read a LOT slower than I can listen to an audiobook, so my equivalent is probably more like $200 or $250) - and yes I realize I'm mixing eBooks and eAudio there, but the argument remains the same.

I'm not saying any of the other arguments are wrong, I'm just throwing out a different perspective. Whether we like it or not, things they are a changin'. It's fora like this where these ideas need to get discussed so that the voice targeted toward the industry can be well formed and not the sound of zealots easily ignored by those who can make the change that is needed.

sorry tad, that was ludicrously long and a bit preachy. maybe it should move off your link, but I'll be glued to your post to see how this discussion plays out.

>153 pbadeer:: Patrick,

Thanks for the alternate perspective. However, I reserve the right to argue with you. ;-)

Although it makes sense that an eBook should cost less because it doesn't have all of the production costs of a print book (and in fact it does)

I'm curious about the basis for this. I don't think anyone has asserted that the fixed costs of an ebook are any different from that of a printed book so, if that's what you're saying, fine. However, if you're saying that the incremental costs of producing an ebook are the same as printed, then I don't agree. If they are finding the costs the same, then they are doing something wrong.

At that level, the business I'm in and the business they're in are the same...reproduction of electronic data...and we receive tremendous cost savings in distributing electronically rather than physically. It's why the entire software industry, including those who only produce textual data, are switching to it. Since you actually produce nothing when copying, the cost for the actual copy is effectively zero. There is a cost associated with maintaining a server holding the master image and net access, but hosting by someone like Akamai is cheaper than production + shipping of any kind of physical media. Moreover, if you can get the retailer...Amazon in this case...to bear that cost, the incremental cost approaches zero...again, not including royalties.

How many 99 cent downloads of music does it take to meet the length of an audiobook?

I'm not so sure about this analogy. If I understand, you're saying that an ebook is about 160 times as long as a song, so $20 is a good deal. In other words, you're arguing that perceived utility should set the cost. OK. I'd counter that by saying that I will listen to a song 1000 times over my life (sometimes more), but I'll read an ebook once, maybe twice. So, the ebook should cost about 16¢. ;-D

I think the real arguments need to lie in the area of economics. And, in that area, I think the rest of your discussion makes my point. If we use an basic economic model that the price of something needs to be Fixed Costs + Variable Costs + Desired Profit, and we then lower the Variable Costs, the price comes down. This leaves out any argument of increased market penetration, which is very arguable.

The fundamental problem, imo, is that publishers are still thinking as they do in your third paragraph, "If the purchase price of the rights assumed X number of sales of Hard Cover and those sales end up smaller because too many people start picking up the eBook version because it's cheaper, the publisher will not make the profit it had originally estimated."

If, instead, they "virtualized" (to use a very geeky term) the concept of a book and said the "purchase price of the rights assumed X number of sales of Any Format...", the equation becomes different. If they maintain the same gross profit amount on an ebook as they do on a hardcover for the life of a hardcover, then maintain the same gross profit amount on the ebook as they do on a paperback for the remainder of time, their gross drops, but their profits remain the same. Further, since costs are dropping, their profitability as a percentage is growing...which Wall Street likes.

The problem, as I see it, is that they continue to equate their business with paper rather than content and that has been the kiss of death in recent decades.

Edit: spelling

#19 : Spring Tides by Jacques Poulin, translated from the French by Sheila Fischman

Canadian Literature, Governor General's Award



Bottom Line: A modern fable that I recommend to anyone.

---

This is my second book by Poulin from the boutique press Archipelago Books and, like everything I've received from them, a joy to hold. Poulin's story was also a joy to read, with a writing style that is extremely simple, yet full of strong visual moments and an atmosphere that left me with seemingly conflicting feelings of contentment and loss.

It's a short book, maybe 100 pages in a standard format, and tells us the story of Teddy, a translator living a solitary life on an island owned by his employer. The latter's only goal is to make people happy and, unable to perceive Teddy's contentment, he gradually adds more people to the island, each to "fix" a flaw he sees in the growing community. At first, the reader finds each new inhabitant humorous, the center of a comic scene or two. Gradually, however, it becomes apparent that, for each moment of humor added, a tiny something is lost. By the end, the peace and contentment that filled the early book...suddenly doesn't.

The allegory that is present but never heavy-handed turns this little story in a modern fable, one I enjoyed a lot.

Nice review, Tad. I don't remember seeing this one on the Archipelago Books web site, but I'll order it soon.

>156 kidzdoc:: Thanks, Darryl.

It's here.

#155: Thanks for the review and recommendation, Tad. That one looks good.

Great discussion here, Darryl, but my mind is still back on the mention of you and your wife getting each other's books because you have the same account. I immediately started thinking of a kindle book club account with my friends. Hmmmm...

reserve the right to argue HaHa - it's your post, you have all the rights. I should be asking for the right to spout off.

I should have re-read my post better - what I meant is that the eBook "in fact does" COST LESS. But reading it again, I realize my wording could have been seen to mean the opposite.

And good point about the multiple listens to a song. I guess that's another point on why piracy isn't really an issue for eAudio. I'm coming at this from being in the publishing field myself, but very indirectly as we only handle audiobooks. Until I wrote it in the post, I had never done that kind of math, so I thought I had a good argument....guess I need to re-think that part. But I will throw out that from the publisher's perspective, you have the ABILITY to re-listen to an audiobook 1000 times just as you equally have the ability to get sick of a song after only 10 plays and never get to 1000.

Your two closing paragraphs hit it on the head, and the first sentence of my first paragraph echoes that. Things need to change. And obviously they are. Things were a little odd there for a while when no one knew what to do, in part because books were being scheduled for release one year out, and in that one year, the industry was changing. The old profit calcs had already been determined, no one knew how Amazon would impact things (in the beginning), etc. So it was like hitting a moving target while the arrow was already in mid air. I've heard a lot of possible changes and we'll see what sticks. The increased price of the eBook is obviously one of more notable changes. IMO, the one I like the best is the idea that the eBook be treated like the paperback, and is released AFTER the hard cover. Release the hard cover, 4 months later (or so) release the eBook, and then 4 months after that release the paperback. Die hard readers (and libraries) will not wait for that new book, and the HC will still have a market. Not everyone is excited by that model - particularly anyone with an eReader - and I get that, because the other side of the coin is why should the tech market be "penalized" to wait for the book. So maybe the solution (and I think this was in one of the other posts above) is have two price points for the eBook. One as the simultaneous release to the print, and then effectively a "trade" price once the lower priced PB comes out.

I have a feeling we will see a lot of both good and bad solutions to this and publishers (and authors) decide where they want things to go and try to steer things in that direction. From the audiobook side, we are fascinated by a new trend of audiobooks being created ONLY for the downloadable market. Again, as a publisher, we find that concept mindblowing because depending on what you paid for the rights, and if you even do only a marginally acceptable recording, how can the sale of the DL version cover the cost? But it's happening. We are just now trying to figure out how our products can go DL and adjust our pricing/costing models accordingly. But as an interesting side note that may or may not resonate through other areas of publishing, our DL sales are trying to RECOVER from losses that the retail sector of our business is experiencing. DL is not gravy to us, it's a necessary profit center trying to make up for lost revenue as the retail businesses change and more people are going to the library (or going digital) to access materials. Which also explains why my Borders Book Stores stock has plummeted from my purchase price of $35 to around $5 the last time I had the nerve to check:(

Thanks for the great mind exercise! and I added Spring Tides to my wishlist.

>159 bonniebooks:: Bonnie,

Since you'd have to provide a credit card and anyone in the club could then buy books automatically using that credit card...you'd have to be brave!

Not sure if it violates the ToS...most likely. I don't feel guilty because both my wife and I have Kindles and we'd just switch them if this wasn't possible.

--Tad

>160 pbadeer:: I think this was in one of the other posts above

Yep, I made that argument. I think we (the reading public) are quite used to the two-tier pricing scheme where hardbacks are expensive and paperbacks make the same book cheaper a year later. If I'm dying for the ebook, I buy it at the high (hardcover analog) price. If not, I wait a year and buy it at the low (paperback analog) price.

I read Translation is a Love Affair by Poulin and was pleasantly surprised. It was very good - and Canadian. So I wondered to myself why Poulin has not penetrated the Canadian book market as well as he deserves. I must read Spring Tides

Enjoying the repartee on ebook costs, etc. I don't know enough about the business model to contribute in any meaningful way, except to say that if a single track song on vinyl cost $5 30 years ago and now costs $1.99 to download, maybe paper books/ebooks should have a similar cost ratio?

Also, I think that the format of the book as we know it, is likely to change with the internet. The usual 200-300 page book that we expect for our dollars investment is likely to morf into more variable sizes - and I wonder if internet readers in the age of shorter attention spans and increased expectation for instance entertainment, will read in different ways; (shorter pieces, more interaction, more use of internet technology integrated into the 'books')?

>162 kiwidoc: I wonder if internet readers in the age of shorter attention spans and increased expectation for entertainment will read in different ways

That was the point I was trying to make. If professors can't get students to read a 200 page book now, what does that mean to the future of publishing and how does this effect authors in particular?

Being in the education field for 40 years, I have seen the evolution of the classroom teacher because now she/he has to provide a real dog and pony show to get the student's attention because they're so used to instant video/audio presentations. We have much more technology at our disposal to make this happen but the idea of a teacher presenting material in the old fashioned way is done, over, kaput because students are unable to focus for more than a few minutes.

How does that effect how authors will present work in the future, if they are forced to take this into consideration? I'm thinking many 100-150 page books, maybe the surge of sales of short stories.

I wonder if internet readers in the age of shorter attention spans and increased expectation for entertainment will read in different ways

I suppose, if we all adopted a very depressing view, we could imagine books being written on Twitter...140 characters at a time.

What's somewhat astonishing is that kids can focus for hours on video games and only minutes on anything else. The whole thing about attention spans really bothers me.

#164 I've only skimmed through a few chapters of Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, but he does address issues such as attention spans.

Tad
Welcome to my world of academia where my seven year old grand daughter pays more attention than a Lehigh University student. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that if our economy is in a bad state now, to coin a phrase, "We ain't seen nothin yet!"

I think maybe kids will wire their brains in different ways by their entertainment habits - compared to us ( my parents didn't allow TV in the house). I remember long periods of boredom and daydreaming as a kid and young adult. Travel was particularly boring.

Now there is always something to distract and entertain. I even pull out my iphone and play a bit of a game while in the coffee line up or waiting for the bus. No more uncontrolled synapses firing off random thoughts! In the evenings everyone retreats to their own computers for entertainment - meals are the last bastion of face-to-face interaction? (Well perhaps its not that extreme, but you know what I mean).

I don't know what is bad and what is good - but it sure is DIFFERENT.

It would appear that every cultures older people will always look with disdain on the younger generations behaviour, likes, dislikes, language etc. My grandmother scorns the idea of mobile phones, internet etc, and yet my mother's generation are able to embrace them, but look down on things that MY generation do.

Whether by nature or nuture, this theme will continue, and in twenty years I will be sitting looking on with dislike at my childrens generation and their behaviour.

Change will happen. And there isn't a thing we can do about it.

I guess I can do this:

* Two cheesecakes in the oven for tomorrow's SuperBowl party.

* Keith Jarrett on the stereo.

* A glass of ice team in one hand.

* The Big Red Train Ride in the other.

There's a good book out on the subject of attention and technology - The overflowing brain : information overload and the limits of working memory by Torkel Klingberg. He discusses recent developments in our understanding of neurological functioning, in particular the limiting factor of working memory capacity.

Klingberg suggests that there is a rapidly growing disconnect between the physical capacities of our brains (evolved in the Stone Age) and the demands being put on them by the recent explosion of information available for processing.

I wouldn't paint too broadly with the "teenagers don't read any more" brush. I work in a high school library, at one of those "best and the brightest" kind of schools, and I can assure you that they're reading. They're reading for classes, lots, and they're also reading for pleasure. They read poetry, they read Shakespeare, they read classic novels, they read contemporary novels. They read non-fiction, they read graphic novels, they read magazines, they read chick lit, they read techno-punk. They read.

I graduated from high school in 1970 and we didn't have Sparknotes then, but we surely had Cliffnotes and they saw a lot of use. I recall getting caught out on a test because I relied on the movie ending of Doctor Zhivago instead of finishing the book - I had no idea there was a third wife in the story! It's not just this generation that doesn't always want to read quite what the professor wants them to read.

I believe many libraries are finding that teen reading is on the increase, and that is largely what is driving the fairly recent burgeoning of titles available in the young adult market.

Just a note to say I'm enjoying the comments generated here on your thread Tad!

#164: Tad .... what you said about books being written on Twitter at 140 characters at a time ..... in Japan, that's already the norm. I kid you not. There's a whole industry now of authors who write their books via text messaging. And they have fans desperate for the next chapter or installation of the novel on a daily basis. I forgot how many characters are allowed (yes they actually have rules) in a single text message for these text novels, and the author sends it off to a hosting company. No editing required, and they never get published as print. Subscribers to a particular text novel receives a text message on their phone every time there is a new 'chapter' that's been updated.

When I'm in Japan and see everyone busy texting on their phones in the subway, I wonder if they're texting authors or if they're reading the next text novel installment.

>170 muddy21:: muddy21,

I read a study very recently that said that teen reading is down by two measures over the last 50 years. The first is simply the amount of time. The total quantity of unstructured time for teens had diminished plus TV, videos, etc. were taking a larger share, resulting in less time in a book. The second was that deep reading was down...more of the reading was quick hits like Web pages (Facebook?).

The first I believe simply from personal experience...my kids are much busier with activities than I was. The second I have no way to measure. Two of my three aren't really readers. My daughter devoured the Twilight quartet and anything written by Nicholas Sparks...but she has to be forced (i.e., teacher mandate) to read anything else. Unless under duress, my son will only read graphic novels. My youngest (only 8) seems to be becoming a reader.

I don't extrapolate from this because it might just be my kids. But I am concerned because their friends seem very similar.

Just to put in my two cents worth - I am not a teacher so cannot comment on readers and teens. However, my two are avid readers - books, newspapers, online articles, anything they can lay their hands on, etc.

I may have to rethink my arguments about hardcover and trade paperback formats. I argued that publishers, by supporting eBooks, could: save the extra manufacturing costs, keep the exact same profit, and give much better pricing to readers.

The flaw in this argument, as noted in this article by Paul Carr (now an author, but formerly the founder of a publishing house), is that hardcovers and trade paperbacks essentially cost the same as a mass market paperback to produce—the vastly increased prices are all profit and royalties.

It's a very interesting article...well worth reading.

Thanks again for all your posts/comments regarding publications. I'm tremendously enjoying these discussions.

And, happy almost birthday. You have until Friday to remain 29.

I have matured. I am now remaining 39.

Huh. My message apparently got sidetracked on the way. Trying again:

Re: e-books, I read an interesting post recently on an author's blog. I would have assumed that authors made less on e-books vs. paper books, but apparently (at least in her case) that is not the case.

From Carr's blog, it appears that publishers didn't have a lot of foresight when it came to e-books:

Before e-readers, publishers didn't care about ebooks. You could tell this by the fact that they gave authors really generous royalties on their electronic sales. It was an easy item to appear generous over so they could f*** you on the paperback royalty. No one read books on their computer so it was no huge loss.

I suspect, now that e-readers are becoming ubiquitous, that will change.

ETA: Kind of reminds me of IBM and Microsoft..."Who cares about PC operating systems? PCs will never be important." And, now, Bill Gates is how rich? :-)

Happy Birthday To You

I hope the day is as special as you are!

Happy Birthday To You Tad! I hope your sister gives you your age in books!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Tad!

Happy Birthday, Tad!!

Happy Birthday!

Have a great birthday, Tad!

Tad, I'm out of the loop for a while and I find another whole year has passed you by! :-D

Happy birthday--may you have nothing bur 5 star reads ahead for you!

Oop, I missed it yesterday, so... Happy Birthday! Hope it was great & relaxing in some day or another!

Thanks all.

Late happy birthday from me too.

I'm late to the party, too! But I'll wish you a belated Happy Birthday and a Happy Valentine's Day all in one post!

#20 : Iorich by Steven Brust

Fantasy, Vlad Taltos #12



Bottom Line: The content is recommended; the short length left me feeling a trifle cheated.

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I had two books on my Kindle that I'm reading: War and Peace and Brust's lastest, Iorich. At my daughters' cheerleading competition...crowded bleachers, 95°, deafening music that's all bass, screaming girls everywhere...guess which one I had to choose?

If you haven't read the early parts of this series, the following comments are probably meaningless. If you have some affinity for fantasy, just give Jhereg and try and decide if you want to come back for more.

The first good news is that this book maintains the level of Dzur, after the abyss the middle books in the series represented. It's not back to what Jhereg and Yendi were...and probably never will be...but the word "fun" now comes to mind after I thought it long gone. Second, it also advances the present day story line, unlike the flashback of Jhegaala. That's a good thing—there's too much unresolved in the active story for Brust to be romping off and introducing other story lines.

The bad news is that Brust seems to be settling into writing really short stories. Don't be fooled by the fact that the physical book has a lot of pages. It's reeaaally big type with a lot of white space. The story is novella length. If I put this together with his detours into past events, I find myself wondering if he's not certain how to get Vlad out of the current situation. It's as if he's taking everything slowly while he thinks.

Another flaw in this book is that, while we get plenty of Vlad and Loiosh, the rest of the wonderful supporting cast are little more than cameos. Given the plot concept (I'll leave you to read that or not as you choose), this is rather surprising; one would expect Aliera, Morrolan and Sethra to be prominent.

I'm back to reading this series, though I'd like him to buckle down and give us something like those first books again.

Belated happy birthday!

#21 : The Big Red Train Ride by Eric Newby

Memoir, Travel, Soviet Union



Bottom Line: Good instance of travel literature; funny and informative.

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This is the story of Eric Newby's journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway—5900 miles from Moscow to Nakhodka taking 192½ hours and covering seven time zones. That's 2500 miles longer than the longest U.S. train ride (New York to Los Angeles via New Orleans).

Newby mixes up sight-seeing, history, and colorful descriptions of the people he meets to present a pair of portraits. The first is of Siberia. The second is an illuminating view into the Cold War-era Soviet Union. His obvious sense of humor served him well on this trip which was, at times, appalling...sometimes from the environment, sometimes from the Soviet bureaucracy. Their adventures trying to find decent food, a decent temperature for their cabin, or even just a place they're allowed to take a picture, make for entertaining reading.

I'm looking forward to trying some of Newby's other travel books in the future.

#195: I have one of Newby's books heading my way via PBS, Round Ireland in Low Gear. Maybe I will give The Big Red Train Ride a shot next.

>196 alcottacre:: I've seen that one. I considered picking it up since I'm going to Ireland later this year.

I had never read any of Newby's books before. PhoenixTerran sent me the BRTR since she saw it on my Wish List and had a copy she wanted to get rid of. I'll be interested to see what you think about the Irish one—it has gotten more mixed reviews that his other stuff. People seem to love it or be bored by it.

#197: I will let you know what I think of it once I have a chance to read it, Tad.

#22 : The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Young Adult, Fantasy



Bottom Line: An interesting story concept but clumsy writing and obvious plot lines. Maybe for young readers, not recommended for older readers.

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Some of my kids were reading this so my wife and I decided to give it a try at the same time. The hype surrounding the movie release has, inevitably, included a number of "The Next Harry Potter!!" claims. So, my opinion right up front: I'm not a Harry Potter fan-boy (especially of the later books) but this does not measure up to Rowlings' work.

The Lightning Thief has an interesting plot concept. The Greek Gods are still around and, occasionally, have children with mortals whom they largely ignore thereafter. Inevitably, the Olympians being the fractious group that they are, some of those children get sucked into a dangerous power struggle between the immortals.

Unfortunately, that's about it for the good points. The rest isn't bad, so much, as only fair. The most descriptive word I can think of for the writing is clumsy. The dialog is stilted, all characters other than the main ones are cardboard, and the plot lurches along at an uneven pace, taking little detours to add other characters from Greek mythology into the story line for no apparent purpose.

Things with which the author hoped to surprise the reader fail to surprise—I figured out the traitor by about page 50 though the characters need until about page 350. There's even the cardinal sin that things obvious to my 12 year old weren't obvious to the adults in the book who had the same facts: "Let's see, you're the son of a god, you love the ocean more than anything, you can make water fly through the air, all tiredness falls away when you're in water...hmmm, whose your daddy? Nope, nope...nothing's ringing a bell here."

Perhaps the thing that bothered me the most was the awkward attempt at humor. I'm not referring to characters cracking a joke; those were fine. It was the off-the-wall elements that appeared at random intervals in an otherwise serious story that made me think Riordan was spontaneously channeling Terry Pratchett...very badly. I mean, come on, an EZ Pass lane to get into Hades?...that's out of place in a book with this tone.

Young readers may like this book and, given that they are the target audience, I don't say it's a bad story. However, I don't recommend it for older readers.

What a shame - it sounds like it should be so much better!

Overall, I enjoyed the series, which improves from book to book, IMHO. The first book is by far the weakest. Sorry you did not like it more, Tad. I hope your next read is better for you.

Tad

Love the photos of your dogs!

I vaguely remember my kids reading the Riordan book and not being too impressed. I am just not too interested in that genre so it will not be making my pile. Thanks for the review.

About 20 years ago I didn't have as much book storage space as I have now. I gave away 2000+ paperbacks...mostly science fiction, fantasy and mysteries...that I didn't envison myself ever re-reading.

Now, my son just came home with a book that's out of print (The Weapon from Beyond) saying he liked it and did I know where he could find the next two? Of course, I had owned them. And, of course, they're out of print now. :-(

Lesson learned...don't get rid of books!

Darn! That's so satisfying to be able to talk with your children about a book that you've both read--and to be able to pass along a book, too, is even better. But you probably have at least a few thousand more chances to share, right?

205: But you probably have at least a few thousand more chances to share, right?

Yeah.

When I joined LT I added all the books that were both physically in the house and that I'd read. It was about 3600. I've added a number over the last couple years; plus, there are probably another 200 I haven't read, so they aren't in LT, yet. All those will pass along.

Lesson learned...don't get rid of books! I agree! Family libraries can be a wonderful thing.

199 - I appreciate your review of The Lightening Thief. The book came up on my radar lately, and I've been trying to decide whether or not to read it. I think I'll save it for a really really light read, if I get to it at all. Thanks!

Some of my favorite books from the sentimental perspective are those I inherited that have my mother's name scrawled in them as a young kid or even a couple from my grandfather. My kids aren't readers to the extent that my wife and I are...but I hope they keep the books and continue to pass them along someday.

Although I probably will never read some of the books that my grandmother passed on to me, they will never be given away. I treasure those books and agree - family libraries can be wonderful inheritances.

Oh my God - I am now in a panic as I am in the process of giving away a considerable children's book collection. I am away from home and cannot stop the inevitable as hubbie has the boxes at hand, but my gut feeling is always to keep books. They are often valueless on the open market, yet very expensive to replace.

I, of course, am not a good example of someone who tempers their book acquisitions, so space is really at a premium, and piles of books can be very 'cluttery' if wall space is used up.

You are talking to the queen of 'cluttery', Karen. I have books stacked everywhere in my library due to lack of shelf space. Of course, that does not stop me from acquiring more.

Boxes + Plastic Garbage Bags + Basement/Attic/Garage Rafters

That's my formula if I ever move to a place with less book storage possibilities. :-)

I like a man with a plan!

Aaaaack! As a private tutor/teacher, I just want to grab those children's books away from your hubbie, but, hopefully, they're all going to end up in good homes!

I still start twitching when I think about all the books my mom let my cousin "borrow" because I had boxed them and stored them in the basement. My aunt swears up and down that they never received them. Bah.

And I'm grateful that my husband is tolerant (and even supportive!) of my book collection.

I hope my boys have an interest in keeping our books one day, but if not I'll probably try to find a library that would like the whole collection.

Part 2 of this thread continues here.