Our current community discussion is on the subject of books reviews: both on-line and in print.

The post can be found here and do feel free to contribute to the discussion of the pros and cons of reviews.

33. The Dragon Done It - edited by Eric Flint & Mike Resnick - 402 pages. A book of fantasy detective/mystery tales, with stories by Eric Flint, Mike Resnick, Graham Edwards, Tanya Huff, Neil Gaiman, William Hope Hodgson, Laura Resnick, Michael M. Jones, Ron Goulart, Esther M. Friesner, Lawrence Schimel, Richard Parks, Randall Garrett, Brian M. Thomsen, David Kirtley, David Drake, Harry Turtledove, Gene Wolfe and Dave Freer. The stories range from twisted remakes of fairy tales, dragons, witches, monks, and an appearance by Sherlock Holmes. All were entertaining and it was great to get that mix of fantasy tales with mysteries.

33 / 100 books read and 11,351 / 30,000 pages read

30. Loving the Highlander by Monica McCarty: A reverse time traveler Highlander romance set in the backwoods of Maine. 2nd in the series. This one was okay, it had it's moments early on in the book, but not as good as the first, in my opinion. See review. 3/5

31. Time and Again by Jack Finney A time traveler novel that I really enjoyed. Si Morley joins a secret gov't. project that send him back in time to the early 1880's in NYC. From there he unravels a mystery that is very cleverly solved. I was caught up in the book all the way to the bittersweet and touching ending. Looking foward to reading the sequel. See review. 3.5/5

32. Smuggler's Bride by Darlene Marshall Loved this book! I didn't think I'd like it all that much, since her first book Pirate's Price didn't really grab me, but this was much better and entertaining. See review. 4/5

32 / 50 books. 64% done!

26. Svarta Hingsten gör uppror (original title The Black Stallion Revolts) by Walter Farley (young adult/horseback, reread) - 20 Apr 2008
This book is a lot less horse-centric and a lot more boyish adventure-ish than many of the previous ones in the series, highlighting how ridiculous it is that these books were originally written with boys as their target audience yet when I was a kid they were sold as girls' books because they contained horses. The translation job sadly wasn't all that great -- the translator hadn't bothered to look up what Black Minx and Bonfire's names were previously translated to -- but it's still a good entertainment read. Running out of Black Stallion books now, sadly, and they're overpriced on the auction sites.
Alec Ramsay's beloved stallion has had enough of the peaceful ranch life, one night lashing out against the ranch's other stallion: his son Satan. While Henry Dailey and Alec manage to stop him from killing their champion, it is clear that something must be done, and they arrange to have Alec and the Black fly to Henry's friend's desert ranch to spend a month or two in freedom. Unfortunately their flight doesn't go as smoothly as they would have hoped, and Alec and the Black are lost in the crash. Suffering from a concussion and amnesia, without anything on him to tell him who he is, Alec assumes the name of McGregor and goes about on an often painful journey to find out who he really is.

27. På ödets vingar by Julia Sandström (fantasy) - 21 Apr 2008
Shanzoc, a winged humanoid being, is sent on an important mission to warn the keeper of one of four keys to a gate which seals horrible creatures out of this world. Others of his kind are gathering, plotting to use these keys to open the gate and send the creatures to kill all the humans in the world. But something goes wrong; his group is intercepted partway through their mission, and he narrowly escapes death onto a fishing boat.
Hardships follow as he has to keep not only himself, but also the two grandchildren of the boat's owner, away from his pursuers.
I wasn't expecting much from this book, it was one of those purchases where the cover intrigued me enough to make me take a chance, but it turned out to be worth it. The writing isn't perfect everywhere, but it's good enough that it's not jarring, and for the most part the author has avoided making too stupid mistakes or using too obvious clichés.

28. Signal, Svarta Hingstens son (original title The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt) by Walter Farley (young adult/horseback, reread) - 30 Apr 2008
The last of my Black Stallion books, and my used book store hunts haven't been fruitful so it may be a while before I get to finish the series. Alec Ramsay goes to see Bonfire, the Black's second son, run, but finds himself witnessing a nasty accident. Before he knows what's going on, he and (grudgingly) Henry Dailey find themselves responsible for getting Bonfire ready for the Hambletonian, after the colt's accident and the events following it have put the usual driver out of commission.
I still like these books as a joy read, though once again I find myself annoyed by the mistranslations that abound; despite Bonfire being described as having blood red coat and black mane and tail, and the first book about him being called The Blood Bay Colt, the word being used in the book is Swedish for 'chestnut', not 'bay'. A couple more things like that, plus the fact that they still use the alternate name for Black Minx that was used in The Black Stallion Revolts rather than the name she had in The Black Stallion's Filly. Sloppy translation work, in other words. At least they kept Bonfire's Swedish name, which was also mistranslated in the last book.

29. I morgon när kriget kom (original title Tomorrow When the War Began) by John Marsden (young adult, reread) - 8 May 2008
Ellie and her friends go out on a camping trip in the bush, determined to find a way down into the ravine known as Hell, where it's said no man has ever been aside from a hermit who killed his wife and son. Oh, they're missing Memorial Day, but they've been to it so many times it doesn't seem to matter much. Not until they return after the trip to find Ellie's house empty. And then Homer's. And then each of their houses after that. Slowly, the truth dawns on them: Australia (I think? That or New Zealand.) has been invaded. They can't understand the enemy's language, they are cut off from all adults and all of their families, there is no power in most of the area... So it's up to the seven of them, some of the last free people in the county, to start fighting back.
I liked this book the first time I read it and I liked it the second time around as well. It's been long enough that I didn't remember much aside from the general premise. Seeing the kids make some pretty tough decisions was interesting, and there are small touches scattered across the story that drive the tale of their plight a lot closer to home. Reccomended.

30. När natten är som mörkast (original title The Dead of the Night) by John Marsden (young adult, reread) - 17 May 2008
The gang have lost Kevin and Corrie, and the idea of fighting back against the Enemy doesn't seem very attractive. But even so, they realize they have to do something or risk being stuck in Hell until there's no food left and no way to get more. They listen to the American news on the radio, and hear the plight of their country fall from being the top news item. The drive to do leads them to explore, take risks, and face danger, while they long for the normalcry that is so far away.
Still liking the series, and this installment brings up the interesting point that the way these youths live, are forced to live, everything ends up turning into an important decision, and even the most harmless of actions may end up having dire consequences that should have been considered beforehand.

Book #3 Title:  Little Beauties
Author: Kim Addonizio
Rating: 5/10
Summary: What do a middle aged OCD woman whose husband has just left her, a pregnant teenager, and the baby growing inside her have in common? They all need one another. This shows how lives intertwine every day, even in the most unusual circumstances.
My Thoughts: I picked this out of a mail order book club with some free points. It was interesting and disturbing at the same time, reading about what an acutal OCD person goes through every day. The book was written in 3 perspectives, a different one for each main character, which I found hard to follow and choppy to read. I also didn't feel like I could really get to know any of the characters, that they were superficial and unimportant. THe ending left me with questions, which can be a good thing, depending on how you look at it. It wasn't the book I wanted it to be.

Book #4 Title: The Mermaid Chair
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Rating: 8/10
Summary: Jessie is summoned to the Island where she grew up after her mother has chopped off her finger. In an effort to find out why her mother is mutilating herself, Jessie goes on a path of self discovery, involving an affair, as well as finding ou the secret her mother and her friends have kept from her for over 20 years.
My Thoughts: I don't know what I was expecting out of this book, but it exceeded them. I found it a little hard to get into at first, but a quick read none the less. My mom had told me 'it was alright', so I wasn't expecting much. I felt that the characters were real and people I could see walking down the street, but I found Kidd's writing style not to my taste. She seemed to highlight details of things that weren't really important to telling the story, when I would have liked more detail with actual characters.

Up Next: Diary, Me Talk Pretty One Day

I think I'll do another challenge for this summer.

Also, raise your hand if you ever read Terry Pratchett's 'Reaper Man'. *just finished it*

Current book count:

1 / 50 (2.0%)

16. Places I Never Meant to Be by Censored Writers. This book is a collection of short stories by some of the more often censored or banned writers. A lot of them were young adult writers who opted to write about teenagehood/childhood the way they remembered it, the way they remembered thinking rather than the white washed Disney version and their books got banned because of it. Some writers include Judy Blume, Katherine Peterson, and Paul Zindel. In addition to each short story there is a piece written by the author about censorship and how it's affected their writing. I highly recommend this one.



15. Rainbow Party by Paul Ruditis. This book discusses a group of high schoolers, who are thinking of attending a rainbow party. A rainbow party is where a group of girls and boys get together, the girls put on different shades of lipstick and then perform oral sex on the boys. This book was more a PSA message on sex in high school, unprotected sex, and the consequences thereof. It was pretty good, but written for young adults, and therefore a quick read. I'm quite sure it's on the banned book list for all schools though.


( Books 1-14 behind the cut )



Books Read

16 / 50 books. 32% done!





Pages Read

5703 / 15000 pages. 38% done!

 #15-'The Story of Archaelogy in 50 Great Discoveries', by Justin Pollard was an extremely interesting read. 

As the titles says, the book gives a brief description of 50 important archaelogical finds, with photos and some biograpical information about the various explorers, curators, etc, who were involved in the recovery efforts. The normal "big" finds were there, such as King Tut; but there was also a wide range of world-wide sites, such as the Incan Macchu Pichu, the sunken city of Port Royal, Flag Fen with its Bronze Age rituals, and many more that I'd never heard much about. 

Not only physical places, but works of art were included-various statues or frescoes found buried in fields and stumbled over by accident. And people, like the bodies recovered from bogs in Britain or frozen tombs in Russia. Some freaky photos, there, but fascinating because they're the actual *people*, not just impressions or pictures of them.

The author does a lot of explaining and apologizing for methods of the past, which I considered unecessary-they didn't know any better then, and they didn't regard these finds in the same light as we do. Once various governments, scientists, and whatnot began to realize that these treasures could provide much information about the world and human development, they took steps to be more careful, turning archaelogy into a real science and art. The warnings not to begin research with preconceptions is important, as in too many instances  facts were forced to fit ideas and not vice versa, and so it often took longer to realize a discovery than it should have.

I found the sections dealing with underwater recovery (such as raising the Tudorian ship, the Mary Rose, and exploring the sunken city of Port Royal) to be especially interesting, and that police investigations sometimes call on archaelogists to help recreate a crime site. 

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who's interested in coffee table books, archaelogy, or history. I intend to follow up on some of these topics so I can find out more about them.

21 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine  John Fox Jr   (USA) (1908)

Story (wikipedia):
Set in the Appalachian Mountains a the turn of the twentieth century, a feud has been boiling for over thirty years between two influential mountain families: the Tollivers and the Falins. The outside world and industrialization, however, is beginning to enter the area. Coal mining begins to exert its influence on the area, despite of the two families feuds. Entering the area, enterprising "furriner" (foreigner) John Hale captures the attention of the beautiful June Tolliver, and inadvertently becomes entangled in the region's politics.

Although this book seems to be pretty much forgotten, it was a best-seller the year it came out.
I really enjoyed it! It was exactly what I needed to read to feel good. Now the writing is quite old fashioned it's true but it gives it a lovely touch. You miss it when it's over.        3,75/5

 
22 The Remains of the Day    Kazuo Ishiguro  (England) (1989)

the story (amazon):
The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence.

This book was really interesting because you learn a lot about England during WWII and the profession of Butler. Most of the time there is a conflict between what Stevens wants you to believe about him and what you can read between the lines. But  the character was so cold I got bored at some points. 2,5/5 

22 / 50 (44.0%)

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (2002)

So I was on the train, with a book I wasn't sure I'd like. I duly gave it a hundred pages, then decided life was too short, and turned instead to the other book I'd taken with me as a back-up -- Summer Knight.

The Dresden Files are my current favourite 'palate cleansers' -- that is, books I can rely on to be enjoyable and (relatively) quick reads, in between the other stuff. It's strange: although that other book wasn't the worst-written I have ever read, I've never been so glad to start reading something by a writer who knew how to achieve the effect he wanted. And so I was back in the world of wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden.

In this, the fourth entry in the series, Dresden is 'hired' (or , more accurately, bound) by the Queen of the Winter Court of the faeries to investigate a death which proves to have implications for relations between the two Sidhe courts, which may in turn threaten the entire world -- and, wouldn't you know it, someone's after Harry again?

One thing that concerns me about these long series that build up an elaborate background is that they'll get too big for their own good. For example, thus far in The Dresden Files, there's been mention and/or appearances  of Red, White and Black Courts of vampires; Summer and Winter Courts of faeries; the White Council of wizards; and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. The plot of Summer Knight draws quite heavily on this background, and at times I did wish for a good ol' supernatural mystery without all the embellishments. Yet I also couldn't help being charmed by some of Butcher's twists on the material (the queen-in-waiting of the Winter Court is a girl with dreadlocks and a T-shirt that reads 'OFF WITH HIS HEAD'); and the story itself was as entertaining as ever -- just as I'd expected when I took it with me on the train journey.

#18 - Blood Debt by Tanya Huff
Urban fantasy
330 pages

This is the last of a series (although apparently there's a spin-off series that has a couple books that my friend plans to lend to me) so I wouldn't suggest hopping right into it. Having said that, they're fun books, well written for the most part. I prefer Huff's incarnation of vampires more than many other authors, mostly because it's not all about sex.

#19 - Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
Canadian lit
238 pages

Even though this is a Canadian classic, I wasn't expecting much. I've read one other Davies book in the past, and I wasn't that impressed. But I am so glad that I read this one despite my misgivings, because I loved it. It's easy to see why it's assigned to so many high school english classes. And it's good enough that I might have even been able to overcome the fact that it was an assigned book, had I been forced to read it in high school, too.

#20 - Madhouse by Rob Thurman
Urban fantasy
337 pages

This is the third in a series, although when my friend borrowed it because we were on a train with nothing else to do, she not only loved it, but rushed out to order the other books as soon as we got home. I agree with her. It's engaging and Thurman has a definite sense of sarcastic humour that shines through in the narrator, Cal.

#21 - The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Historical novel/Myth and legend
353 pages

This is a retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, but from a realistic point of view. She uses historical evidences from Crete to explain the different elements in the legend. And she weaves a wonderful story in the process. The back cover describes it as a spellbinding, and I must agree. I'm really afraid that I'm making this come across as a dry book, but it really was anything but.

#22 - The Pact by Jodi Picoult
General fiction
496 pages

This was a really quick read, considering it was almost five hundred pages. I wish there had been more flashbacks to the lead up to the death, since those were the parts I liked the best, but I really liked the way that Picoult kept me in justifiable suspense, waiting for her to reveal just what had happened the night in question, whether it was a suicide, as was claimed by the main character, or a murder, as the prosecutor's office was claiming. The payoff was worth it, too, when it could easily have been a letdown in the hands of a less skilled author.

Does anybody else find it easier to get around to writing scathing reviews than good ones? If I read a terrible book over the weekend, I can't wait to get on here on Monday and tear it to shreds. If the book was actually pretty good, I inevitably put it off until Friday. Maybe this is why authors are so frightened of critics. Scorn is SO much more fun than praise.

Anyway, here are three pretty good books.

The first was The Harlequin's Dance by Tom Arden. It's fantasy of the sort I like: low on people turning into unicorns and high on human interaction. The story follows a crippled boy living in a castle with his invalid mother and his evil aunt (she's very like the aunts in Saki's stories, if you've read them). The boy is supposed to be special somehow, so we follow his growth with eager anticipation, waiting for him to come into his destiny. Meanwhile, in the background, bad things are happening. This crazy-religious guy is convinced that, by cutting off crippled bits, he'll separate crippled people from evil (which is pretty crappy for the kid, who's learning to walk with crutches). This fat little boy kills cats for no reason and, later, turns on his friends. A girl growing up in the forest pursues a wood-tiger, and an army of blue coated soldiers marches in and starts picking on the gypsies. It's vaguely reminiscent of George R. R. Martin's gigantic books but, since there are only, maybe, three main characters, it's a lot easier to follow and, probably, isn't going to end up being so goddamn long (it's a series, but my library only seems to have the first book). Highly recommended for people who like serious fantasy (as opposed to fluffy fantasy).

The second was called Human Resource by Pierce Askegren. This one was sci-fi, and also pretty serious (once again, more human interaction than aliens and moon-lasers). It takes place on the moon, which is neat, and is mostly from the point of view of (though not in first person) a guy who has been transferred to a post reasonably high-up in a major corporation on the moon. Most of the book is about how much he hates being on the moon, but there are other weird things going on in the background, like a woman that everybody really really likes for no apparent reason. It's the first book in a series and definitely doesn't stand alone well at all, but the writing was pretty good, so I'm going to have to defer judgment until I've read more of the series (if I get around to it).

The third was a Dr. Who book. Which I bought after (I kid you not) an hour's discussion with the guy who works at Borders that I always hunt down when I have nerd questions and, later, another woman who works there that he waved over about Dr. Who and Torchwood (the shows) and which books were worth reading and why nobody seems to ever like the Doctor's girl-sidekicks until they're gone. I left with a whole list of old Dr. Who episodes I was supposed to watch, an order to keep watching Torchwood, even though it won't start to be good for a while, and Dr. Who: Forever Autumn by Mark Morris. The whole point of flagging down my nerd-source was to find out if any of the Dr. Who books were worth reading (I had a coupon and wanted to use it on SOMETHING) and this one, they agreed, was the best.

It wasn't really very good, but I'm not entirely sure that I wasn't being swayed by either trying to envision it as a TV show or my overwhelming distrust of everything that is, or can be construed as, fan fiction. (I don't like fan-fiction because it isn't TRUE. This may sound very weird, and I mostly acknowledge that it's a preference as based in logic as my refusal to eat meat wrapped in another kind of meat (chicken wrapped in bacon? ick) but anything written in a particular author's universe by anyone except the author or someone designated by the author feels to me to be "just writing stories". I understand the author herself is "just writing stories" but, well... it's just one of those things). Anyway, back to the book. Some of the Doctor bits were very good; he acted in ways I'd expect the Doctor to act, but I just couldn't get away from wishing I were watching it as a TV show instead of reading it as a book. Because the books aren't allowed to delve too deeply into Interesting Things (it's probably important for the show to stand on its own), the book just felt like an extra-long and not particularly enlightening show. Don't know if I'll read any more, but I won't hold it against you if you do.

I completed earlier this week a graphic novel by Warren Ellis called Scars; it's a police novel with a bit of horror of a rather visceral sort. Not my typical cup of tea.

Book:   Down & Out in Paris and London
Author:  George Orwell
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Pages:  213
Rating:  3.5/5 stars

A stark look at poverty in Paris and London at the turn of the 20th century.  Orwell does a fantastic job of describing what it is like to survive with only a few shillings to your name.


Book:  Menachem's Seed
Author:  Carl Djerassi
Genre:  Science Fiction
Pages:  192
Rating:  2/5

The widowed Melanie Laidlaw is the director of a foundation that supports research in reproduction.  Menachem Dvir is a married nuclear engineer living in Israel.  They meet at a conference and are immediately drawn to one another.  Djerassi explores the themes of scientific ethics, sex, and nuclear proliferation in this novel about the dilemmas that advancement of science places us in.

This book had a lot of potential.  Djerassi's writing style is good, but he weaves too many divergent themes into a novel and barely skims the surface of any of them.  I picked this book for my Book A Month challenge theme because one of the themes was the Melanie's desire to become a mother and the lengths that she went to achieve that goal.  This theme could have made a great novel, but instead it was compromised by the other avenues that Djerassi chose to explore. 


Next up:  The Warden

18/50 books read

6600/15000 pages read

(x-posted) 

 

Book: #8
Title: The Poisonwood Bible
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Rating: 5/5
Pages: ?
Genre: Novel - Fiction

Excellent book. I've been wanting to read it for years and regret not picking it up at a Border's Outlet once when I saw it on clearance. Then, once Oprah got her Book Club fingers on it, it was impossible to find. Finally I picked it up used. It's been laying around the house but I decided to give it a look and I didn't put it down until the next morning.

Book: #9
Title: Quest for a Maid
Author: Frances Mary Hendry
Rating: 3/5
Pages: ?
Genre: Children's Historical Fantasy

Written for ages 9-13 based on facts surrounding the death of Alexander, King of Scotland and the fight of right to ascend the throne, eventually falling to Robert the Bruce. This story is about a  three youths caught up in the tumultuous events of those years. Magic, shipwrecks, a witch trial, misadventures, misunderstandings, a princess who does not want to be queen tossed in among the day to day living of that time period.

Books 1-4; Books 5-8; Books 9-12; Books 13-16; Books 17-19; Books 20-22

23. The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle - Catherine Webb

Cute book. After the first two pages I gagged the little over-analytical, ultracritical know-it-all in my brain and sat back to enjoy this book. Horatio Lyle is a ... eh, he likes to blow things up, basically. But now and then and not-so-voluntarily - because blowing things up is more fun - he engages himself as a sleuth, if the police is at a loss that is. Classical detective story setting (in the London of the 19th century!). And one can undeniably say that Ms Webb knows whom to pay respect to. Well, at least she knows, though I'm not so sure about the respect, which the following excerpt quite clearly shows. ( Not for die-hard Sherlock Holmes fans, though. ) Aw, so much glee in that. ;) So Horatio is summoned before Lord Lincoln's 'calculating mind' and is told that he has the 'honour' to serve the Empire by bringing back an ancient plate which has been stolen from the Bank of England recently. Together with Tess, a cheeky ex-thief, and Thomas, a Young Man of Really Important Descent, he pounces on to the investigations, but soon he has to realize that there are dangerous forces at work who don't care about a human life. The book is fun to read. Neither the plot nor the setting is all too imaginative, but it's charmingly written and the characters are loveable, especially Tess. Only Thomas seemed to be a plot-only character, because the only reason for him being there is his Really Important Descent which opens doors normally closed to Normal People Without Really Important Descent. That is negligible and so is the fact that I totally didn't buy the supernatural aspects of the plot. The sheer cuteness makes up for it, as well as the hilarious phrases the authors uses, my favourite being "clouds raced along like frightened fish, trying to pretend they hadn't been there [...]". I love such imaginative, pictorial use of language; it takes guts to use unusual stylistic devices and it doesn't always work, but in this case it definitely did.

24. The Italien or the Confessional of the Black Penitents - Ann Ward Radcliffe

Ellena (the Very Pure Maiden) and Vincentio di Vivaldi (the Very Heroic Hero) are madly in love with each other. Sadly, and to my utter surprise, Vivaldi's parents are against the marriage and want to prevent it at all costs. Which brings the eerie monk Schedoni (the Very Villainous Villain) on the scene, who spins a web of intrigues with his mad villainous villain intrigue skillz. But Ellena and Vincention refuse to give up on each other, so that they are now hunted through 18th century Italy which seems to be cramped with sinister monks, bigoted abesses, unscrupulous assassins and merciless inquisitors. While Ann Radcliffe certainly has a knack for atmosphere, this book didn't work for me. Though I found myself ridiculously amused by it at some parts, it's probably just too old to have another effect upon me than this mild amusement. The setting was beautiful and well done, the landscape as well as the dire dungeons, but nothing more, and of course I couldn't see all those absolutely shocking revelations coming. Not at all. Only from miles away. Schedoni is a pretty amazing villain, though, with his luciferean viciousness. If you're stuck with stereotyped characters, the bad guys are certainly more entertaining than the good guys.

I cheered for Schedoni. :P

25. Brigitta - Adalbert Stifter

Not such a big fan of Adalbert Stifter (Austrian writer of the 19th century). In 12th grade we read a text by him about a solar eclipse; after two passages, I got distracted and started doodling on my notepad. Since my grandma gave me a copy for Christmas and it's her favourite book, I gave Brigitta a go nevertheless, mainly because I didn't want to lie at her if she asked me about it. There's not so much to say about the content of this short novel itself other than it didn't particularly impress nor annoy me. The Romantic narrative provides for a whole lot of atmospheric nature descriptions, the oak tree they used to hang people as the most striking example. About the short novel there's a lot to say however. My copy had to different editions of the book, the original one from 1844 and another one, edited by Stifter himself, from 1847. (Funny story - they were set parallel in my copy, that is, one page, one edition, next page, second edition. I didn't realize that when I started reading and it amazed me greatly that a sentence on one page didn't get continued on the next one. 'Seems like good ol' Stifter had an avant-garde phase back then' ... well, not really.) Even though there's only a three year difference between the two of them, the style greatly differs. While the first takes all his examples and circuitous explanations out of the domestic life, the second prefers reserved abstraction to dominate in the narrative style. It just struck me odd. Why such a radical change? I know that perfectionism can lead to very avid revision, but this seems like, you know, writing a whole new book.

26. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

I seem to have a certain twisted fascination for novels about marriage. Everytime I read one, I swear it will be the last one, but only a couple of months later I find myself reading another one. I'm not sure how to rate this one; on the one hand it wasn't exactly exciting, on the other hand I started secretly rooting for Newland/Ellen. Anyway, the book is set in 19th century New York. Newland Archer is soon going to be happily married to his innocent sweetheart May - or at least he thinks so. But then the unconventional Ellen Olenska suddenly appears, on the run from a desastrous marriage in Europa, and then everything is different. Newland finds himself invariably drawn to Ellen, who shows him a whole new world behind his uptight New York upper class horizon. But when they discover their mutual love for each other, it might already be too late ... At the beginning, the bold irony points out the theme of the book, 'society sucks' that is. Although this was very kind, I think I would have gotten it on my own, thank you very much, and was quite glad when the narrator put down that oh-so-ironical attitude. The main problem, or rather the thing that bugged me through all the 300 or so pages was that nothing ever happened. The characters were always on the verge of doing something, but somehow they never actually did something. That might even be intentional, but after a while it's just annoying. But - call me sentimental and overly romantic - I liked the scenes with Ellen and Newland alone; their relationship is decribed in such a tender, respectful way: ( Hey, I need an equal substitute for not reading Nicholas Sparks! )

8. Making Waves - David Hasselhoff
Summary from play.com Making Waves follows Hasselhoff's acting career from his early childhood role in Peter Pan to his highly acclaimed performance in Chicago in London's West End, and his new TV triumph in Simon Cowell's America's Got Talent. The wealth of inside information includes untold stories of his first marriage and his life as a TV star in Knight Rider and Baywatch. At times deeply personal, it also reveals his fight against drink that nearly drove him to destruction and the devastating motorbike accident in which his second wife Pamela was badly injured. The conclusion covers the reasons for the breakdown of their marriage. Described as a 'living legend', this fascinating book gives a new and moving insight into what it means to be the most watched TV star in the world.

Ok, I actually only wanted this book because I thought it would be pretty bad and I wanted to see just how bad. Boy, was I wrong. The Hoff really goes into great detail about things, even pin-pointing specific episodes and events down to a tee. He also appears to be a genuinely nice guy, who's calling in life is to help others. I was a bit disappointed that he seemed to come across as a slight ego-maniac and that he didn't really go into a lot of detail about his drink problem, which to be honest is evident throughout the book. I was quite surprised by the amount of religious references he made, as he never strikes me as the type of person to be overly religious. I'd say give this book a go as it is actually quite good (and don't feel too sad that you can remember a lot of the episodes of Baywatch he writes about!)

Book 54: Poe: A Life Cut Short.
Author: Peter Ackroyd, 2008.
Genre: Biography. Literature History.
Other details: London: Chatto & Windus, 170 pages.

I sought out this book after reading brisingamen's recent review. As she had provided a very comprehensive summary of its contents, I won't repeat here but direct others to her review and only share my thoughts on it below.

I hadn't really been aware of the details of Poe's life before reading this short biography. As with other of Ackroyd's 'Short Lives' series he manages to provide a comprehensive life sketch without becoming so bogged down in the minutia of the subject's life that it became boring for the casual reader. Poe enthusiasts probably wanted more but there are undoubtedly many longer biographies existing that fulfil this need.

I came away from this biography feeling much as brisingamen had. That is, some surprise that Edgar Allan Poe had managed to survive to the age of 40. Yet with Melancholia as his Muse perhaps this was to be expected. I had to wonder if he had not been so tormented would he have burned so bright? Without those inner demons that led him to drink himself into oblivion he might not have made the impact he subsequently did upon literature and other arts. His personality and the themes of his works seem so wedded together that his name has become synonymous with the macabre and gothic.

Aside from the biographical aspects, Ackroyd briefly explores the impact Poe had upon other writers; being hailed by Arthur Conan Doyle as the 'Father' of the detective story and cited by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells as an important influence upon their writings. Due to my studies in art history I was already aware that the French poet, Charles Baudelaire, was obsessed with Poe and that Stéphane Mallarmé held his poetry in high esteem. Poe's engagement with themes of love, death, melancholia and decadence made him perfect to be hailed as a prophet by the Symbolists and also embraced by the Surrealists. I found it poignant that Ackroyd pointed out that it was in these later writers and thinkers, who recognised Poe's genius and were inspired by his writings, that he had at last found his true family.

A worthwhile read though slightly disappointed that while it did have a bibliography that there were no footnotes. Still as it was marketed as a popular biography and not an academic work this is understandable. Overall I found that I was more interested in the influence of Poe's writings than in his life and so have requested a copy of The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe from my local library.

24) Dead Silence by Brenda Novak

I don't read romantic suspense, and I don't think I will again. I don't like the feeling of waiting the entire book for something bad to happen. As for the setting of this book - Stillwater, Mississippi? It has a lot annoying, unpleasant people in high concentrations. Something must be in the water. Probably the body of the reverent who has been missing for over a decade.

The book follows Grace and her return to Stillwater, a town that abused and traumatized her. Even with a successful career, she can't get over the demons of her past. Namely, a night when she was thirteen when her stepfather, the reverend, vanished. No one else in town can let that go because they suspect Grace's family had something to do with it. They are right. But the exact circumstances of that night remain a mystery for most of the book.

The romance in the book is straightforward. The widowed and wealthy Kennedy falls for Grace, but she rebuts him, thinking that her associating with him will hurt his political career. They do make a decent couple, mainly because they are the only intelligent and decent people in the entire town. The sex scenes are very light and not graphic at all, which is fine. But there is something really aggravating when after two times in bed together - sneaking around - Grace speaks of how they shouldn't use protection because she wants his baby. Brain... cells... rotting. I hate it when women do that in books! It's just stupid and cliche and unrealistic! I know it's supposed to emphasize their true wuv and how they are destined to be together forever, but at that point I pretty much lost the remaining respect I had for this book.

Someone, please annihilate the little fictional town of Stillwater. It clearly did not pass the existence litmus test, and should be destroyed.

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

Second time around. It felt like a much lighter read this time as I had first read this a few years ago – not surprising really. I still enjoy Brennan’s writing, so I’m looking forward to re-reading the rest in anticipation of the final book in the series: Faerie Lord

Purple Emperor by Herbie Brennan

As stated above, this is also the second time I’ve read this book. I felt that I needed a refresher on the series before I read the final book.

If you haven't read Brennan's stuff before, and you're into Faerie stories, I recommend giving this series a go.