January 2010
Talk Book of the month club
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1Booksloth
Another January over - my god, how did THAT happen?
Straight into the list then:
The Republic of Trees
The Little Stranger
A Girl Made of Dust
The Library of Shadows
Disquiet
Dead Simple
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Wilding
Blood and Guts in High School
Purple Hibiscus
Yannis
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
The Murder Farm
A Kind of Intimacy
Blacklands
The Long March
They Came Like Swallows
The Dastardly Book for Dogs
A bit of a mixed bag, as ever. A Girl Made of dust is one I've tried before and given up on. I can't put my finger on what (if anything) is actually wrong with it - I just don't find myself caring very much. I managed to finish it this time but more because I felt I should than because I wanted to.
And another one I just ended up skimming is Blood and Guts in High School - a book I bought mainly because of the title and, to be honest, that turned out to be the best part.
The Republic of Trees, The Library of Shadows, Disquiet, Dead Simple, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Purple Hibiscus, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, The Murder Farm , Blacklands The Long March, They Came Like Swallows and The Dastardly Book for Dogs all provided good reads though some worked better than others but, on the whole, there was nothing to be disappointed about here.
But, as usual, there are a few that stand out for me. They include The Little Stranger - possibly not Waters's best book but a lot of fun nevertheless. I do like to see how writers I admire (of which Waters is very much one) handle the ghost story genre. So many great writers have tackled it throughout the ages and it is a very tough genre in which to find anything new to say. The version we have here is fresh and very entertaining.
The Wilding was an ER book and one of the better ones I've received so far. The story of family secrets unearthed and set just after the Civil War. My review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/9169252
Yannis was a book that was bound to attract me - set on the Cretan island of Spinalonga in the first half of the 20th century when the island was used as a leper colony. This is a self-published book and I do have one or two tiny complaints about the editing (or lack of it) but it's a gripping story, generally well-told and I have the rest of the series sitting on Mount TBR. Recommended - review here - http://www.librarything.com/work/6054643
And my favourite book this month has to be A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth. This is the story of a morbidly obese young woman who moves into a new neighbourhood to make a 'fresh start'. However, as her obsession with her new neighbour increases her past is determined to catch up with her. My mini-review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/8022969 - but I would really recommend just getting the book and reading it for yourself. The creepiness mounts so gradually you hardly notice it until you wonder why you've started losing sleep.
Straight into the list then:
The Republic of Trees
The Little Stranger
A Girl Made of Dust
The Library of Shadows
Disquiet
Dead Simple
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Wilding
Blood and Guts in High School
Purple Hibiscus
Yannis
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
The Murder Farm
A Kind of Intimacy
Blacklands
The Long March
They Came Like Swallows
The Dastardly Book for Dogs
A bit of a mixed bag, as ever. A Girl Made of dust is one I've tried before and given up on. I can't put my finger on what (if anything) is actually wrong with it - I just don't find myself caring very much. I managed to finish it this time but more because I felt I should than because I wanted to.
And another one I just ended up skimming is Blood and Guts in High School - a book I bought mainly because of the title and, to be honest, that turned out to be the best part.
The Republic of Trees, The Library of Shadows, Disquiet, Dead Simple, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Purple Hibiscus, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, The Murder Farm , Blacklands The Long March, They Came Like Swallows and The Dastardly Book for Dogs all provided good reads though some worked better than others but, on the whole, there was nothing to be disappointed about here.
But, as usual, there are a few that stand out for me. They include The Little Stranger - possibly not Waters's best book but a lot of fun nevertheless. I do like to see how writers I admire (of which Waters is very much one) handle the ghost story genre. So many great writers have tackled it throughout the ages and it is a very tough genre in which to find anything new to say. The version we have here is fresh and very entertaining.
The Wilding was an ER book and one of the better ones I've received so far. The story of family secrets unearthed and set just after the Civil War. My review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/9169252
Yannis was a book that was bound to attract me - set on the Cretan island of Spinalonga in the first half of the 20th century when the island was used as a leper colony. This is a self-published book and I do have one or two tiny complaints about the editing (or lack of it) but it's a gripping story, generally well-told and I have the rest of the series sitting on Mount TBR. Recommended - review here - http://www.librarything.com/work/6054643
And my favourite book this month has to be A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth. This is the story of a morbidly obese young woman who moves into a new neighbourhood to make a 'fresh start'. However, as her obsession with her new neighbour increases her past is determined to catch up with her. My mini-review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/8022969 - but I would really recommend just getting the book and reading it for yourself. The creepiness mounts so gradually you hardly notice it until you wonder why you've started losing sleep.
2karenmarie
Wow, Booksloth! You have done a tremendous amount of reading this month. I've just put A Kind of Intimacy on my BookMooch wishlist and hope it pops up soon.
I was busy with too much other stuff - junk like Band Boosters Treasurer stuff and family things taking weekend time, but also, much more enjoyable to me, the Australian Open took serious amounts of reading time away. Roger Federer is my guy, and he won!!! So it was worth the sacrifice.
1. Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout 12/31/09 1/2/10 *** A re-read. This one seems pretty dated - lots of bad stereotypes and the use of the n word (this was written in 1937). The mystery was clever and well written but it left me less satisfied than I would have expected.
2. The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley 1/2/10 1/3/10 *** 1/2 A very good psychological mystery with well written characters and an interesting ending. I like the hero Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus of the Mobile PD and look forward to other books in the series.
3. The City and The City by China Miéville 1/3/10 1/10/10 *** A strange book that was very hard for me to get into. I read it, and liked it, but the basic premise of the book - that two cities would occupy the same turf, house by house, block by block, and be declared one or the other or crosshatched - shared by both - I found very hard to digest. Mieville does a good job of keeping the characters consistent in their cities, and the Breach looms over it all - a supercop organization to keep people in their own cities. There is a mystery and it gets solved, yet I found the characters curiously two dimensional. The vividness of the book came in trying to imagine "unseeing" and "unhearing" something right in front of you that was of the other city. I really liked the ending and should have seen it coming about 80 pages before the end. 336 pages.
4. The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg 01/11/10 01/14/10 *** My October 2009 ER book, finally showing up in January. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Three Stooges and more. What really surprised me was how Moe Howard kept the whole thing together always - Larry was improvident with money and Curley was just screwy. I didn't realize Shemp, Curley and Moe were all brothers. Interesting anecdotes, but alot of repetition among the biographies. Recommended for serious Stooges fans.
5. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 01/10/10 1/30/10 *** Review to come.
6. The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill 01/14/10 01/22/10 **** review here: Various Haunts
7. The Death Collectors by Jack Kerley 1/16/10 1/22/10 *** 1/2 Macabre theme, people who collect objects used by serial killers. A very well done book. Continues the story of Carson Ryder and partner Harry Natilus. We learn more about Carson and his relationship with his mass-murderer brother.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis 01/22/10 abandoned at page 280 on 1/30/10 Wordy beyond redemption. I read and liked her Passages but also considered it too wordy. That one was gripping and I was willing to put up with the excess baggage, but this one didn't hold my interest. I just could not imagine slogging through another 280 pages.
My choice for best book of the month has to go to The Various Haunts of Men. It's the first of a series and I am very anxious to get the rest of the books.
I was busy with too much other stuff - junk like Band Boosters Treasurer stuff and family things taking weekend time, but also, much more enjoyable to me, the Australian Open took serious amounts of reading time away. Roger Federer is my guy, and he won!!! So it was worth the sacrifice.
1. Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout 12/31/09 1/2/10 *** A re-read. This one seems pretty dated - lots of bad stereotypes and the use of the n word (this was written in 1937). The mystery was clever and well written but it left me less satisfied than I would have expected.
2. The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley 1/2/10 1/3/10 *** 1/2 A very good psychological mystery with well written characters and an interesting ending. I like the hero Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus of the Mobile PD and look forward to other books in the series.
3. The City and The City by China Miéville 1/3/10 1/10/10 *** A strange book that was very hard for me to get into. I read it, and liked it, but the basic premise of the book - that two cities would occupy the same turf, house by house, block by block, and be declared one or the other or crosshatched - shared by both - I found very hard to digest. Mieville does a good job of keeping the characters consistent in their cities, and the Breach looms over it all - a supercop organization to keep people in their own cities. There is a mystery and it gets solved, yet I found the characters curiously two dimensional. The vividness of the book came in trying to imagine "unseeing" and "unhearing" something right in front of you that was of the other city. I really liked the ending and should have seen it coming about 80 pages before the end. 336 pages.
4. The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg 01/11/10 01/14/10 *** My October 2009 ER book, finally showing up in January. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Three Stooges and more. What really surprised me was how Moe Howard kept the whole thing together always - Larry was improvident with money and Curley was just screwy. I didn't realize Shemp, Curley and Moe were all brothers. Interesting anecdotes, but alot of repetition among the biographies. Recommended for serious Stooges fans.
5. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 01/10/10 1/30/10 *** Review to come.
6. The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill 01/14/10 01/22/10 **** review here: Various Haunts
7. The Death Collectors by Jack Kerley 1/16/10 1/22/10 *** 1/2 Macabre theme, people who collect objects used by serial killers. A very well done book. Continues the story of Carson Ryder and partner Harry Natilus. We learn more about Carson and his relationship with his mass-murderer brother.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis 01/22/10 abandoned at page 280 on 1/30/10 Wordy beyond redemption. I read and liked her Passages but also considered it too wordy. That one was gripping and I was willing to put up with the excess baggage, but this one didn't hold my interest. I just could not imagine slogging through another 280 pages.
My choice for best book of the month has to go to The Various Haunts of Men. It's the first of a series and I am very anxious to get the rest of the books.
3Booksloth
A whole wodge of those near the end of my list are pretty short books!
ETA - I read The Various Haunts last year and have also got the rest of the series waiting to be read - in fact I think two of them were in a 2 for 1 offer. It'll be interesting to see how we both get on.
ETA - I read The Various Haunts last year and have also got the rest of the series waiting to be read - in fact I think two of them were in a 2 for 1 offer. It'll be interesting to see how we both get on.
4tjsjohanna
Booksloth - I know what you mean! I can't believe it is February already! Here's the list ...
Graphic Novels
Union by Michael Stackpole
Dark Empire by Tom Veitch
Graphic novels are not my thing, but I read a lot of Star Wars series books, and my brother said I should read these - they were good stories. They were o.k.
Youth Novels
Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary - I love her books. They are funny but very real. I listened to this while taking down the Christmas tree and it made the chore so much more fun!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Didn't see the movie, but found the book both dark and interesting.
Hunger Games
Catching Fire both by Suzanne Collins. We read HG in my bookclub this past month. I like the genre of imagining what a future world might be like (though they always seem to be worse, somehow!). I quite enjoyed both books and look forward to the next installment, due this summer.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by Emily Lockhart. Entertaining teen read.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Drawn to those dystopias this month, I guess. Planning to read more in the series.
Sharp North by Patrick Cave. I really didn't plan to read all these books on a theme, but it is interesting to see how different authors picture a dismal future!
Raven Summer by David Almond. Read this for this month's bookclub discussion (not sure why we are reading two youth books in a row). Left me unsettled - didn't exactly enjoy it, but thought there were some great things going on in the book ...
The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson. Listened to it because of the author and was glad I did.
Christmas Books
I'm trying to read more books on my shelves and I thought I'd start by reading some of the books I have for Christmas.
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. Sentimental, and an important message, but didn't feel quite real to me.
A Cat's Christmas by Stephanie Samek. This is a funny look at Christmas from the perspective of our furry friends. There are definitely some clever bits in this small book.
Christmas Jars by Jason Wright. This is a great book of the genre. I felt like the story was believable and it was inspiring in a concrete way.
Classics
More books off my shelves ...
Dubliners by James Joyce. Very vivid writing.
The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories by Mark Twain. Twain has a low opinion of human nature, and his ability to laugh at it is strained in these stories.
Non-Fiction
Also off the shelves ...
Boys who Became Prophets by Lynda Robison. Short profiles of the boyhoods of the various prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Marking the Scriptures by Daniel Ludlow. Great introduction to the LDS edition of the scriptures, but I wasn't that fond of most of the marking suggestions.
Everything Else
Lion in the Valley
The Deeds of the Disturber both by Elizabeth Peters. These are re-reads - I find Amelia Peabody funny and these books are great for a quick and entertaining read.
Willoughby's Return by Jane Odiwie. I guess I'm in the group that isn't that fond of Austen sequels.
The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer. Fun read.
Dead Simple by Peter James. Saw a review of this here on LT and decided to read. A page-turning thriller. I liked that Mr. James just kept unfolding the backstory along the way.
Most of these were quick reads (that was my mood, I guess). Best book? Well, I'd definitely recommend Hunger Games if you like the genre. The biggest surprise for me was The Day of the Pelican.
I'm already adding more books to my wishlist, thanks to the above posts!
Graphic Novels
Union by Michael Stackpole
Dark Empire by Tom Veitch
Graphic novels are not my thing, but I read a lot of Star Wars series books, and my brother said I should read these - they were good stories. They were o.k.
Youth Novels
Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary - I love her books. They are funny but very real. I listened to this while taking down the Christmas tree and it made the chore so much more fun!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Didn't see the movie, but found the book both dark and interesting.
Hunger Games
Catching Fire both by Suzanne Collins. We read HG in my bookclub this past month. I like the genre of imagining what a future world might be like (though they always seem to be worse, somehow!). I quite enjoyed both books and look forward to the next installment, due this summer.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by Emily Lockhart. Entertaining teen read.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Drawn to those dystopias this month, I guess. Planning to read more in the series.
Sharp North by Patrick Cave. I really didn't plan to read all these books on a theme, but it is interesting to see how different authors picture a dismal future!
Raven Summer by David Almond. Read this for this month's bookclub discussion (not sure why we are reading two youth books in a row). Left me unsettled - didn't exactly enjoy it, but thought there were some great things going on in the book ...
The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson. Listened to it because of the author and was glad I did.
Christmas Books
I'm trying to read more books on my shelves and I thought I'd start by reading some of the books I have for Christmas.
The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. Sentimental, and an important message, but didn't feel quite real to me.
A Cat's Christmas by Stephanie Samek. This is a funny look at Christmas from the perspective of our furry friends. There are definitely some clever bits in this small book.
Christmas Jars by Jason Wright. This is a great book of the genre. I felt like the story was believable and it was inspiring in a concrete way.
Classics
More books off my shelves ...
Dubliners by James Joyce. Very vivid writing.
The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories by Mark Twain. Twain has a low opinion of human nature, and his ability to laugh at it is strained in these stories.
Non-Fiction
Also off the shelves ...
Boys who Became Prophets by Lynda Robison. Short profiles of the boyhoods of the various prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Marking the Scriptures by Daniel Ludlow. Great introduction to the LDS edition of the scriptures, but I wasn't that fond of most of the marking suggestions.
Everything Else
Lion in the Valley
The Deeds of the Disturber both by Elizabeth Peters. These are re-reads - I find Amelia Peabody funny and these books are great for a quick and entertaining read.
Willoughby's Return by Jane Odiwie. I guess I'm in the group that isn't that fond of Austen sequels.
The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer. Fun read.
Dead Simple by Peter James. Saw a review of this here on LT and decided to read. A page-turning thriller. I liked that Mr. James just kept unfolding the backstory along the way.
Most of these were quick reads (that was my mood, I guess). Best book? Well, I'd definitely recommend Hunger Games if you like the genre. The biggest surprise for me was The Day of the Pelican.
I'm already adding more books to my wishlist, thanks to the above posts!
5Booksloth
#4 Are you taking part in the Books off the Shelf Challenge? It's certainly getting me to read some of the oldeis that have been stacking up for years. Hasn't managed to stop me buying new ones yet though.
As you can see, I also read Dead Simple. In the end I thought the story itself was pretty good though not mind-blowing, but the actual premise (for those who haven't read it - guys on stag night bury the groom in a shallow grave as a 'joke' but on the way home their car crashes and they are all killed) was sheer brilliance. How could anyone not want to know how that turned out?
As you can see, I also read Dead Simple. In the end I thought the story itself was pretty good though not mind-blowing, but the actual premise (for those who haven't read it - guys on stag night bury the groom in a shallow grave as a 'joke' but on the way home their car crashes and they are all killed) was sheer brilliance. How could anyone not want to know how that turned out?
6karenmarie
#3 Booksloth - I have bookmooched Risk of Darkness but haven't found The Pure in Heart yet and want to read in order.
#4 tjsjohanna - Lots of good reading. I've never read Joyce. Maybe I should start - I have both Dubliners and a Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Neither of which I remember acquiring, but that's the fun of a large library. Sometimes stuff's just there - from Mother-in-Law or her mother, or just memory lapses on my part of books I've actually bought.
I love re-reading books too. It's just that since joining LT, I've gotten so many good recommendations that I haven't as much time for re-reads as I used to.
#5 Booksloth again - I am doing the Books Off the Shelf challenge too and I'm still buying new ones too. Just can't resist, especially since I'm mostly using BookMooch and the local thrift stores.
I'm having a hard time keeping my two challenge threads straight - BOTS and 75 Book. I think I've finally got them square now. I have over 900 books that I've tagged tbr - to be read - but realistically it's less than that. However, even half of that would be 450..... so if I were to stop buying books today I would probably have enough to read for years and years.
#4 tjsjohanna - Lots of good reading. I've never read Joyce. Maybe I should start - I have both Dubliners and a Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Neither of which I remember acquiring, but that's the fun of a large library. Sometimes stuff's just there - from Mother-in-Law or her mother, or just memory lapses on my part of books I've actually bought.
I love re-reading books too. It's just that since joining LT, I've gotten so many good recommendations that I haven't as much time for re-reads as I used to.
#5 Booksloth again - I am doing the Books Off the Shelf challenge too and I'm still buying new ones too. Just can't resist, especially since I'm mostly using BookMooch and the local thrift stores.
I'm having a hard time keeping my two challenge threads straight - BOTS and 75 Book. I think I've finally got them square now. I have over 900 books that I've tagged tbr - to be read - but realistically it's less than that. However, even half of that would be 450..... so if I were to stop buying books today I would probably have enough to read for years and years.
7tjsjohanna
Booksloth & karenmarie - yes I am doing a Books off the Shelf Challenge. I'm trying to whittle down my "Waiting for Review" pile. Most of the books in my house have been read at one time or another. But this has been a good way of deciding which books will stay and which are ready to be passed on.
I liked Dead Simple - and like you the actual premise was what made me pick up the book.
I've never read any Joyce, and I'm not sure I'll read more, but his writing was pretty amazing. Very vivid.
I liked Dead Simple - and like you the actual premise was what made me pick up the book.
I've never read any Joyce, and I'm not sure I'll read more, but his writing was pretty amazing. Very vivid.
8Booksloth
So annoying when you find you missed one and it was a goodie too. Somewhere in here should also have been Stealing Athena which would definitely have made my shortlist. A really enjoyable book about two remarkable women.
