March Book Review

I seem to be in a genre reading zone right now. I do this: get interested in a certain type of story, and have to read any books I can find on the same theme. I will discover an author who writes thrillers, or crime stories, or historical tomes, and the next thing, I have to read anything I can get my hands on relating to that subject.

So, in light of that, I'm still stuck on the immortal thing. I'm starting to think my fascination is because I'm getting older and NOT immortal. Still, I have been totally absorbed into a whole branch of literature--previously unread by me--that has to do with immortality. I think this all started when I read Twilight last Fall, and so far, the addiction hasn't abated. Ah well, I'm having a good time reading stuff I'm not familiar with (though after many weeks of immortals, I'm becoming very familiar with this genre..!!).

Alexander McCall Smith

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
Now, having said the above, I will drop anything and everything to read the latest book in The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Mma Ramotswe is again solving cases, as only she can: with wisdom, love and a belief in the goodness of the human spirit. I so love these books.

Two sidebars here:

I was working at the Cramond Kirk Jumble Sale last month having a great time, as always. There was a woman working with me who had to leave a bit early because she was on her way to the National Library in Edinburgh to meet with "Sandy" McCall for a luncheon and book reading on his new book (Tea Time...). I'm pretty sure I turned deep green with envy. Not only because she called him Sandy (Scottish derivative for Alexander, implying a very first name basis acquaintance), but because she was going to this event in the first place...!! I flat out told her I was soooo jealous and half hoped (as one of his best and devoted fans) that she would invite me along with her. Sadly, no such luck. Still, I talked to someone who knows him and that's probably as close as I'll ever get to this most brilliant author.

The other sidebar is the new BBC television show, based on the books, which is now showing on Sunday nights. It is, without doubt, one of the best adaptations of print to film. It's filmed in Botswana (where all the books are based), with local actors, scenery and atmosphere. It's one of those serendipitous moments for a reader when a book truly comes to life. The producers/director have dramatized the stories exactly, making this an absolutely wonderful TV series. Alan and I drop everything at 9:00pm every Sunday to watch. I told Alan after last Sunday's show, that he could realistically say he's read the books, the series is so accurately portrayed.

J.R. Ward

Black Dagger Brotherhood series
These six books involve the members of a secret group, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, who (what else) are immortals fighting against all the nefarious bad guys, protecting us lowly and clueless humans. Each book covers the history and current life of a brother. There's lots of adventure, angst, the bonding of warrior brothers and some good scary stuff in these stories. I love the writing style and incredible imagination of this author.

Gena Showalter

Lords of the Underworld series
So far there are three books in this series, with more to come. The theme in Showalter's take on immortals comes from Greek mythology, with a large dollop of imagination thrown in for good measure. The basic premise here is that a band of men, working in Olympus for the gods, opens Pandora's box, releasing all the badness into the world. For punishment, these guys are banished to Earth and forced to endure their crimes for eternity, while helping out humanity whenever they can. One suffers constant pain, one gets murdered every night to be resurrected each morning, one is Death and has to ferry people to either Heaven or Hell, one can't touch anyone or anything because he is Disease, etc. It's a good series as you come to understand the torment each guy suffers, and their regret over their actions through the millenia. I particularly enjoy these stories because of the mythological background.

So. There are my books for March. It was a very interesting bunch of stories, and once again, I don't know what I would do if I didn't read. The only thing worth watching on the telly is The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, so I thank my lucky stars I have books.

February Book Review

I seem to be in a "series" mode these days, and it's been brilliant..!! I've discovered several new authors (new to me), and they've all had loads of previous books so I've been able to start at the beginning and read book after book, without interruption. There's nothing worse than coming to the end of a book and having to wait a year or more to find out what happens next..!!

It would be way too convoluted, and lengthy, for me to go into much detail with all these stories, and I know most of you nod off quite early into my reviews, so I won't labor here with particulars.


Christine Feehan

The Dark Carpathians series
There are several books in this saga, most of them totally entertaining, though somewhere in the middle I started to lose the plot (or Christine did), but then she came back with a vengeance and I fell back in love with all the Carpathians.

Basically, they are a separate immortal race from us, though they live among us as human. The series starts with the Prince of the Carpathians, and each book thereafter tells a different tale of another member of their society. Lots of action with the bad guys who want to kill them off, love interest stuff, and great plotting. I lived and breathed the Carparthians for about 3 weeks and could hardly move on when I'd finished the last in the series, though thank goodness there are more books in the works.


Catriona McPherson

Dandy Gilver Murder Mysteries
So far there are 4 books in this series. These are very quaint stories, filled with Scottishness and in locales I am familiar with around Edinburgh, which is always cool. Dandy is English, though has married a Scottish guy, and lives outside Perth in the 1920s. She's sort of a grown up Nancy Drew, with lots of humor, weird friends, and her most lovable Dalmatian Bunty. She stumbles into crimes and mysteries, often without a clue...literally. The best part of these books, to me, is life in Scotland in the 1920s. Catriona McPherson has done an amazing amount of research into the era and it's delightful to read about.


Karen Chance

Cassandra Palmer series
There are 4 books in this series, with a fifth book that ties in, but stands alone as it's own story. Cassie is a clairvoyant who can also communicate with spirits. The ghosts aren't usually dangerous, but they sure like to talk..!! Lots of mythological and legendary characters abound in this series, with loads of humor and a tough, smart heroine. Fairies, vamps, dwarves, trolls, etc. It's sort of the adult version of Grimm's Fairy Tales with some laugh-out-loud scenes.


Kresley Cole

Immortals After Dark series
I totally love this series..!! There are 6 books so far, and I can't stand that I have to wait until November 2009 for the next one...aarrgghh. Each book ends in a cliffhanger about the next character's story, so it's been most enjoyable (and deadly for getting anything else done in my day) to finish one, and immediately pick up the next.

Again, it's about immortals, which seems to be my obsession lately. The stories are filled with Valkyries, vamps, werewolves (who live in the Highlands of Scotland no less), and various other creatures who go bump in the night. There are hilarious bits with Nix, the Valkyrie who can see the future but only in riddles, plus lots of action, chaos and mayhem. The plots are fab, with great suspense and characters. Yum, what a super series this is..!!

January Book Review

Now that I'm just catching up with my blog postings, it's going to be difficult to write reviews on books I read nearly a month ago, especially as I've read a multitude of great books recently. So, this will be an "edited for television" book review (which no doubt will please some of you no end..!!).

Marianne Curley

Guardians of Time: The Named, The Dark and The Key
This trilogy is about 16 year old Ethan, who discovers he has the ability to travel back in time. The plot concerns Ethan learning to use his skills to intercept the dark forces intent on unraveling history for their own purpose...of course, an evil purpose. At the same time, Ethan is a normal high school kid, with all the problems associated with being a teenager, without adding in the "save the world" bit. It was a good series: complicated, tense, exciting, with lots of action and suspense.

Alison Croggon

Books of Pellinor: The Gift, The Riddle, The Crow and The Singing
This was an amazing quartet. It was supposed to be "young adult" reading, but heck with that. The plot was very intricate, loads of passionate, inspiring characters, really thrilling, scary moments, a vividly described world of monsters, magic and Darkness. All 4 books are nice and thick, too, so I could really get absorbed into the story. Maerad is a young slave woman who gets accidentally rescued early in the first book, by a mage, Cadvan, who discovers she is magically gifted. Through fair means and foul (good guys and bad), it's determined that Maerad is the only one who can restore the balance in the Seven Kingdoms. The quest involved is to find the Treesong, the only thing able to defeat the Dark. Everyone thinks Maerad is the one to do so, though she doesn't have a clue what the Treesong is, or where to find it. The 4 books roam all over the Seven Kingdoms, and the longer the quest goes on, the more Maerad learns, not only about the Treesong, but about herself, and her abilities. This was such a wonderful, lengthy, great read. I was really sorry when I finished the last book.

Christopher Ransom

The Birthing House
I'm not sure what I think about this book. The writing was excellent, so I kept reading, though wasn't too sure where I was going. It was a surprisingly creepy story about a couple, Conrad and Jo, who move into an historic Victorian house, looking for a new start. Conrad is given an old photo album with pictures of the early Victorian inhabitants of the house when it was used as a home for unwed mothers. Things start to take a Stephen King turn for the worse at this point when Conrad seems to recognize one of the women in a group photo: his wife..!! My only complaint was the ending. I swear, either I'm losing it, or my brain functions on a different level than other people, because damn, I didn't understand the end at all. According to the book jacket: "The Birthing House grips from the first line to the terrifying final twist." That's all well and good, and yes, the end was really scary and twisted, but the deal is: I didn't get it....!!!!!

December Book Reviews

I didn't read much this month, mainly because of Christmas, New Year's, etc. Still, I managed to wile away a bit of free time with some great books.

Alexander McCall Smith

I absolutely adore this Edinburgh writer. I have read nearly everything he's written, and enjoyed every book. My favorites are The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series; I eagerly await each new installment and usually read the books in one sitting.

La's Orchestra Saves the World
The story is about a woman leaving London on the brink of World War II, to settle into a small English village in the countryside. She forms an amateur orchestra of local musicians and men from a nearby air base to stage concerts while all around them their country is fighting for it's survival. Friendships are forged, loves lost and found, and through it all: the profound power of music. It's a wonderful tale of the indomitable spirit of people, against the backdrop of war, to find meaning in their lives.

Nora Roberts

I don't normally read "romance" novels. I do, however, like Nora Roberts. She writes well, and if you overlook the steamy stuff (which in her newer books isn't so...well...steamy), they are quite worth the read.

The Sign of Seven Trilogy
Three boys, on their tenth birthday, accidentally unleash an evil at the Pagan Stone, a place in the forest near their small town of Hawkins Hollow. The history of the stone goes back to the early settlement of Hawkins Hollow, with witch trials, puritanical zealots, and the beginnings of the evil. Each book relates to one of the boys (now men), first with Blood Brothers about Caleb Hawkins, followed by The Hollow about Fox O'Dell, and concluding with The Pagan Stone and Gage Turner. There are lots of scary bits, things that definitely go bump in the night, and three women (these are "romance" novels after all) who also have a part to play in dealing with the evil. The storyline reminded me of Stephen King sometimes, especially the parts when the guys were boys (Stand by Me comes to mind). Good stuff.


Phil Rickman

There are 10 books in this series about Merrily Watkins, parish priest and diocesan exorcist, which all take place in the Hertfordshire village of Ledwardine. Many of the stories involve people and events over the border in Wales, with lots of local folklore and history.

To Dream of the Dead
The books are continuous, so really, you must read from the first book. In this story, there is a killer December flood, the village is isolated from everything, and with the unearthing of a prehistoric pagan monument which flies in the face of some staunch religious villagers' beliefs, all hell is breaking loose in Ledwardine. Great atmospheric rendering of village life, the trials of being a woman priest, having a pagan teenage daughter, and balancing it all with the changes happening all over England with land development burying the past. Love this series.

Emily Barr

The Sisterhood
A creepy, dark, but gripping read. There's witty "life in London" dialogue, and a great finale that really makes you glad you know exactly who your own sister is. Elizabeth, living in London, has just broken up with her husband. She has a miserable one night stand, and natch, gets pregnant. Meanwhile, across the Channel, Helen, who lives in France, has found some hidden documents belonging to her mother and discovers she has an unknown sister. She decides to go to London to find her. And therein lies the plot. Elizabeth is enchanting as she struggles with her pregnancy and new life, while Helen is...well...something else. I won't go into any further details, as telling too much would totally spoil the suspense. Well worth the read.

November Book Reviews

Changes:
December 16, 2008
After writing the review of all the November Books Read, the feedback I was getting was mainly "WOW, that was way too long to read". I think the general feeling was I was writing a book about the books..!! So, I've decided to pare down, and do a Cliff Notes version of the books instead, which is what anyone else from today on will read.

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I thought I would end the month with a review of the books I've read. It's quite a cross-section of genres, from "teenage chick lit" to scary short stories and lots of stuff in between. I'll start from the bottom of the list, with the book I read first and work my way to Stephen King, which I just finished.

MATT RUFF

Fool On The Hill
The story is about a student named Stephen Titus George, who goes to Cornell University. The book takes place mostly at Cornell, and particularly on The Hill overlooking the campus. There is a surreal, hidden world of fairies, a meddling mythological being named Mr Sunshine, a wonderful dog named Luther who is looking for heaven, along with his long-suffering traveling companion, a Manx cat named Blackjack. It's a strange, bizarre, lovable book that I enjoyed immensely.

Set This House In Order
The most convoluted novel I've read in ages. Andrew Gage has a Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), though has it under control by consigning all his personalities to a "house" in his mind. They all live in the house, which is their world really, with their own rooms, communal dining, group meetings; everything you would expect from an actual large family. There were some shock revelations along the way, an evil personality trying to escape the "house" and psychological discourse about the proper treatment for MPD. I can't imagine having my head filled with a bunch of other personalities, opinions, and/or behaviors, though after reading this book, at least I feel I have a better understanding of people who might.

Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy
This book was a funny, thriller/mystery/sci-fi story set in New York in 2023. The NY sewer crew is battling a mutant great white shark, a mega-billionaire is building his version of the Tower of Babel, Ayn Rand is a ghost in a hurricane lamp, constantly harping in biting commentary about the merits of capitalism, there are eco-terrorists, and a murder mystery to solve. I'm hard pressed to explain this book, other than to say, it's well worth the read, if totally unconventional.

Bad Monkeys
This story is about a girl named Jane Charlotte, who has been arrested in Las Vegas for murder. She claims she works for a secret organization called the "Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons", or Bad Monkeys; people who for whatever reason have managed to get away with murder and mayhem. She's really a secret government assassin, she says, and the story is about how she got involved with the organization, what she does, and how she does it. The ending was a surprise, in a Matt Ruff way: twisted, bizarre and very...well...surprising.

What I find the most amazing about Matt Ruff's four books: All these stories were in his head..!! The twists and turns, the disparity of plot, the fun, the serious, the weird. Wow.


STEVEN HALL

The Raw Shark Texts
This novel is Steven Hall's first. I read a review on Amazon where someone said this book was like Marmite: you either loved it or hated it. I can't begin to describe what an odd, totally original book this was. Ultimately it was a love story, though that seems too trite when I sit and think of the whole plot. It's very wacky as a story, though it's also compelling. I have to say, the ending floored me. Honestly, I might be missing a few brain cells or something, but the end really made me think: What...?? Still, it was worth reading, for no other reason than to stretch my mind.


STEPHENIE MEYER

After several books requiring major participation of my brain, I thought it was time to lighten the load. I saw a large display at Waterstones for Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, and though I figured it was "teen lit" thought I would read the first book in the series until something better caught my eye. Maybe a story about a teenage vampire would at the very least be diverting. What a shock to get totally hooked..!! I mean seriously, I couldn't believe it. I'm not sure if this is because I was reading about a place where I've actually been, or if once a teenage girl it's so easy to be one again in my imagination, or if it's just simply that I could fall into the plot and not have to dissect meanings or concepts.

Twilight
This is the first book of four. Bella Swan, 17, the main character, moves to Forks, WA to live with her father, the sheriff. She meets Edward Cullen at the local high school. She's intrigued by him, and his five "siblings", though initially he seems to have a real aversion to her. She meets a friend of the family, a Quileute named Jacob, who tells her some Native American folklore, which includes vampires. She eventually puts two and two together, and confronts Edward. One thing leads to another and the whole story comes out: he is a vampire as are his five siblings, and his foster parents. They are not vampires who prey on humans, but rather have a more civilized approach. There is a interesting plot to this book involving Quileute legends and their purpose in protecting humans from vampires; there are rogue vampires who come to Forks and want to have Bella for lunch, a father with feelings that Edward is not who he seems, and a very interesting family of vampires: the Cullens. The relationship, building against all the odds, between Edward and Bella is really good, and by the end of Twilight, I truly had to find out what happened next.

New Dawn
The story picks up in Bella and Edward's senior year in high school. She has become friends with Alice, one of Edward's "sisters". Alice is planning a big 18th birthday party for Bella. Of course, things go terribly wrong. Most of this book is about dealing with love and loss and pain. Bella eventually finds a true friend in Jacob, and spends a great deal of time with him, and other Quileutes. This book is full of suspense, bittersweet romance, rescues and reunions, and the continuing difficulties of a human girl in love with a vampire.

Eclipse
Bella is torn between her love for Edward and her love for her best friend, Jacob. The two guys are bitter enemies, but both want what's best for her. A character from the first book returns, bringing danger and death to Seattle, Forks, Bella, and the Cullens' way of life.

Breaking Dawn
The last book was the biggest: a great 754-page, wonderfully thick book...my favorite kind. The conclusion of the series begins with Bella and Edward graduating from high school. She is now adamant to become a vampire (for various reasons), but Edward has placed one major condition before he will grudgingly agree to this, one which Bella is hard-pressed to comply with, and a chain of events begun in Twilight comes to a thrilling finale. It was a tremendous finish, though parts were pretty graphic. On the cover of my book there was a large sticker which said "Not suitable for young readers" and boy, did they mean that..!!

I really loved this whole saga. If I have any complaint at all, it would have to be Bella's constant appraisal of Edward's beauty. She just couldn't fathom why he would want to be with her, a plain ol' human, and brought it up on a regular basis. She couldn't understand that for Edward, she was the beautiful one. Still, I suppose sometimes that's part and parcel of being in love. I read all four books in little over a week, and when I finally raised my head, I was stunned to realize I wasn't in Forks, WA. Regardless of the books being written for teenagers, I found myself totally captivated.


STEPHEN KING

It took me at least a week, after reading the Twilight series, to get back into another book. I had pre-ordered the new Stephen King, Just After Sunset, so when it arrived at my door unexpectedly, I was very happy to have found something new to read.

Way back in the day, when Jan (BFF) and I worked at the same publishing company, we used to read Stephen King and compare notes. Since I was not totally into scary novels, Jan would read the books first, then tell me if they were too creepy for me. The only two I've never read are Misery and The Dark Half, which Jan said would NOT work for me at all. I also lost track of the Dark Tower series, having read three then losing interest when the remaining books in the series were taking years to be published. I love Stephen King's writing style, hence why, when he's being truly scary, he can totally creep me out. I was anticipating, with relish, his new book of short stories.

Just After Sunset
All the stories didn't grab me, though each had something. The Gingerbread Girl would definitely have been the one, of all of them, that Jan would have said: don't read..!! I think Stationary Bike was my favorite. Imagine a work crew in your body, taking care of the culverts and drains and various washed out roads, and what would happen if you got healthy and didn't need them so much anymore. It was a great story. The Things They Left Behind was sad and poignant; Harvey's Dream, Rest Stop, Mute, all good stories. The last one, A Very Tight Place was a story Stephen King wrote because, as he says in his Notes at the end of the book: "...I wrote this story, for the same reason I have written so many rather unpleasant tales, Constant Reader: to pass on what frightens me to you." All I will say is: I will never go into a portapotty again...!!!

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So, there ends my reading for November. It was a strange, eclectic bunch of books, but that suits me just fine. I don't know what I would do without my books, and how odd I find it that e-books are becoming so popular. There's nothing like opening a new book, the feel of turning pages, the smell of paper and ink. You can't begin to feel the heft of worlds in your hands with a computer book. No thanks, I'll keep doing things the old-fashioned way...that's part of the joy after all. And, as I already have a pile stacked up for my December reading, I will finish this now and go get started.