KPlatypus: Going for 150 in 2008

So it begins:

1. The Captive Queen of Scots, by Jean Plaidy
2. Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

The Captive Queen of Scots is a historical retelling of the story of Mary, Queen of the Scots. I've always found her story compelling and I liked the cover of this book, so I grabbed it from the library. Unfortunately, the writing is really stilted and the characters end up feeling really one-dimensional. I mean, how many times do I need to be told that Mary could charm any man in the room? Plus, the ending is kind of a done deal, so there's not a lot of suspense built in and the author didn't do a great job of building her own. It's not a terrible book or anything, but it's solidly mediocre. I found it to be a very quick read, but its length (400-odd pages) might discourage others.

Inkheart, on the other hand, was delightful. I had never heard of it until another LTer reviewed it, and based on her review and generally good taste, I decided to give it a shot. It definitely fist solidly into the young adult fantasy genre, and even into the more specific young-adult-fantasy-for-kids-who-love-books subset, but that's fine by me. The basic premise that a bookbinder and his daughter are drawn into a nefarious plot and must save themselves, along with their newfound friends, is pretty tried and true, but the added twist, that the father can bring characters in books to life- literally- was new to me. The characters were fairly well-drawn, for a young adult novel. At the very least, the heroine expresses multiple emotions, according to her position, which is always welcome. Also, I liked that the villains are pretty, well, villainous. Too many kids' books these days try to soften up the villains, give them a background sob story or make them good people deep down. I do not like this tendency- sometimes people just suck, you know? And even a horrible childhood doesn't excuse evil behavior. Therefore, I appreciated Ms. Funke's willingness to draw out and out villains. True, they have backstories, but those aren't really given as an excuse. Although not the best such book I have ever read, this was one of the better ones I've read in a while and I definitely plan to pick up the other books in the series. If this book had been around when I was in elementary/middle school, it probably would have become a prime favorite.

3. Foe, by J. M. Coetzee

I had never heard of this until another LTer mentioned it during a discussion on the 1001 books thread, but he/she mentioned that it was a retelling of Robinson Crusoe and that it was better when read alongside RC, so, since I read Robinson Crusoe just a few months ago, I figured now was as good a time as any to pick this one up.

Overall I thought this was a pretty good book. I rather liked the idea behind it, that a story is modified by whoever is telling it and that each speaker (or non-speaker, as the case may be) has his or her own motivations and thus cannot be implicitly trusted. The ending was a bit odd- I read the last few pages a couple of times, to make sure I was clear on what was happening and still feel like they could be interpreted a few ways.

I'm not always a big fan of modern lit, or books that reinterpret the act of writing, but I felt that Foe did a good job of discussing what it means to put something in the words by means of a story, rather than by means of a lecture or gimmick. I do agree that this would be a lot less interesting if not read in conjunction with Robinson Crusoe (which I found incredibly, by the way), though I suppose it could be done.

Tally to Date:

3/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
0/50 atypical-for-me books
0/30 non-fiction

I've gotta find those bar things other people have- they look to much prettier and neater . . .

4. The Mystified Magistrate and other tales, by the Marquis de Sade

A collection of short stories written by de Sade while he was in the Bastille, this is quite different from his more famous works. The subject matter is similar, in that the stories deal with adulterous affairs and "deviant" sexuality (take that "deviant" how ever you like, since it's all a matter of perspective in these matters), but these are actually funny. They reminded me of Boccaccio's Decameron or one of my bawdy favorites, Fablieux Fair and Foul. De Sade is obsessed with his own court case (understandably), which can get rather tedious, especially in the first (and titular) story. Nonetheless, this was much easier to read than De Sade's other work and was fairly amusing.

5. Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter, by Astrid Lindgren

One of my SantaThing gifts, Ronia, the Robber's Daughter is a charming little tale about the titular Ronia and her escapades with Birk, the son of her father's archnemesis. The two live in a forest setting that is reminiscent of Robin Hood and classic Medieval stories. The book is filled with lovely little descriptions, such as this one: "You could see for miles across the green woods, but now there was much yellow and red among the green, and soon the whole riverside was flaming gold and red." The language is simple but well-chosen, and the characters are as developed as one can expect in a book designed for young readers. Ronia's father, in particular, is well-drawn.

This is a very easy and quick read and would make an excellent bedtime/read-aloud book for elementary school-aged children.

6. The Altar of the Dead, by Henry James

When I discovered that my library lends ebooks, I became so excited that I felt compelled to immediately borrow something but I already have a ton of books checked out, so I wanted something short. Thus, this short story by Henry James.

The only other James I've read is Wings of the Dove and I wasn't a huge fan. Wings of the Dove reminded me of D. H. Lawrence, in its pretentious rambling on and on about relationships, but always in this rarefied, unrealistic way. That said, I've always meant to give him another chance or two, just to see if my opinion has changed, or his other books or better, you know? So when I saw this I figured it might be a good way to try to break in.

Altar of the Dead is only about 50 pages long and it tells the story of a man who spends his life mourning and celebrating "his Dead," ie those he has loved who are now dead. He meets a fellow mourner who is also a woman, and they develop a friendship slowly and carefully, by means of their shared passion.

This story focuses on relationships, both with the living and the dead, and how they influence the other events of our life and other relationships. It's a slower building story, but moves forward with a steady unfolding of the plot. Both of the characters are finely drawn, so the reader can understand them, even though so little is known about either in some ways.

In the end, then, I think this ended up being a fortuitous James choice for me, and makes me think I'm ready to brave a longer work soon.

7. BAD or, the Dumbing of America, by Paul Fussell

The book I really wanted to read Class, by the same author, is not only checked out of the library but it also has 16 people waiting for the one copy available for loans. Argh. So in the end I decided to try another similar book, to give me a taste as it were.

BAD is a curmudgeonly look at American culture in the 80s/90s and is intent on demonstrating how monstrously bad much of it is. Although I didn't agree with all of his analyses, many of them were spot on and hilariously written. His main point is that, as a country, we take the art of being bad and raise it to a new level, that of BAD, which combines poor quality with pretense and pomposity. Since the book was written in the early 90s, it's somewhat dated and I recognized a few things that were problems then but aren't now, and a few that had just shifted (like pagers to cell phones). America bashing usually really puts me off a book, since I'm rather fond of my country, so when I started and realized what I had gotten into, I was a bit annoyed. However, through the contempt and mockery comes a faint whiff of fondness that made me feel like the author doesn't so much hate his country as hate that it's not a great as it should be, a sentiment I can agree with. At times I had to roll my eyes, like when French toilets are favorably compared to American ones (sort of), but it wasn't too slavishly pro-Europe/anti-American, esp compared to some modern social writing. All in all, a funny if dated look at our culture. Everyone should be able to find at least a thing or two to identify with and laugh at, I would hope.

Tally to Date:

7/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
2/50 atypical-for-me books
1/30 non-fiction

Deleted my last post to try to fix the touchstones. If they still won't work, I'll give up.

8. Inkspell, by Cornelia Funke

Sequel to Inkheart, Inkspell was equally riveting. This book is definitely a bit darker than the previous book but, unlike when the same happened in the Harry Potter series, it felt natural, perhaps because the first book was already somewhat dark. I mentioned before that I appreciated this author's willingness to have really nasty villains, and she didn't let me down with this book. They're still just as nasty (maybe nastier) and they act in reasonable ways. There's a scene I really liked, wherein some of the good characters want a bad character to do something nice, and one of them good guys basically says "no way. He's just not nice and he won't do that." Even though the actions of the characters change the book in unusual and sometimes extreme ways, they don't (and can't) change the nature of the other characters. Which I liked, since otherwise the premise of the book, that you can change the book from within through writing, would kind of mess up the whole tension thing.

Since this is a darker book and doesn't shy away from some pretty upsetting events, I wouldn't recommend it for young readers, but it would be great for junior high and some high school. And of course those adults that appreciate good ya fantasy. The third book in the trilogy, Inkdeath, was released in German last November and the English version isn't due to be released until April- makes me wish I knew more German.

9. The Fruit of the Tree, by Edith Wharton

Although not as beautifully rendered as her more well-known works (such as House of Mirth, Age of Innocence, and Custom of the Country), The Fruit of the Tree is still a gripping story, with all of the miscommunication and heartache that one would expect in any novel by Wharton. In this case, the story follows John Amherst, a visionary trying to carry out plans for industrial renewal while building a life for himself with his wife. The story looks at the problem of communicating higher ideals to those whose sole concern is with immediate profit from a more personal level than is usual; the fact that the protagonist is neither the owner of the factory nor a low-level worker is also somewhat unusual and makes for a novel perspective.

Running alongside and among the story of the mills is the story of Amherst's relationships- with society, with his wife, and with his family. Wharton is in her element here, as she draws well-developed characters and then proceeds to let them destroy each other in that way that only people can. Miscommunication, often due to societal constraints, is really the heart of the novel, and Wharton does an excellent job of demonstrating how easy it is to ruin another person simply by not saying that which you mean, or by allowing prejudice and pride impede actions and speech.

As is typical, The Fruit of the Tree does not have a very happy ending, though it is somewhat less tragic than many of Wharton's other novels. Sort of. But not really.

10. The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. LeGuin

In the second Earth-Sea novel, Ged, the mage, meets Tenar, Priestess of the Unnamed Ones of Atuan. Less traditionally fantasy-oriented than the first book (A Wizard of Earthsea), The Tombs of Atuan looks at religion and rituals, devotion and freedom, and relationships between humans instead. The story explores the question of what a person ought to do when the belief behind religious practice is called into question, and when a personal sense of morality contradicts traditional teachings. Even better, it do so without the saccharine voice that so often accompanies such conversations.

Although I found this story a little harder to get into than A Wizard of Earthsea, in the end I think it's just as strong as a book and has some very insightful things to say about reality and belief systems. The plot is not fast-paced, so those looking for nonstop action would probably want to look elsewhere, just as those looking for more traditional fantasy, with explosive magic, dragons, and elves might be disappointed. However, someone looking for a more philosophical work should be well pleased.

Tally to Date:

10/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
3/50 atypical-for-me books
1/30 non-fiction

11. The Farthest Shore, by Ursula K. LeGuin

The third novel of the Earth-Sea cycle, The Farthest Shore is again different in style from the previous books. If A Wizard of Earthsea is a traditional coming-of-age/magical training book, and The Tombs of Atuan is a coming-to-terms with one's beliefs book, The Farthest Shore is a sea journey with a grand quest in the epic tradition. The characters (the familiar Ged and the new Arren) are as complex and flawed, yet likable, as ever. I didn't find this as interesting as the previous two novels, since it lacked the philosophical depths of those books, and sometimes seemed to jump around a bit. Nonetheless, it was a solid contribution to the genre.

12. I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert

Ehn. So-so. Although there were some terribly funny parts- funny enough for me to read aloud to my boyfriend a few times, even- the majority of the book was only moderately amusing. Being inflammatory and sarcastic only takes you so far. My favorite parts: the things that are turning Mr. Colbert gay, and the summary of what is taught in higher learning courses.

And alas, the touchstones appear to be akimbo.
Edit: Fixed?

12/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
4/50 atypical-for-me books
2/30 non-fiction

13. Promethea: Book 4, by Alan Moore

I read the first three Promethea books in December, so I didn't write reviews for them. However, I will try to lump them in with this review, which will be for the whole series, I think.

This graphic novel is not for everyone. By a long shot. It deals with mysticism, ritual magic, mythology, feminist beliefs (not sure how else to say that, though it's not quite right), kaballah, tarot cards, and more. I'm enjoying it, even though I'm not really into all that, because I have friends who are, and I get the jokes.

If you enjoy that kind of thing, it's kind of great. If you don't, stay far away from Promethea. Here's a good test: do you know who Aleister Crowley is? John Dee? the Major Arcana? the Tree of Life and how that interacts with the Kaballah? If so, check it out. If not, maybe not. This is not out of elitism, by the way- you probably just won't find it interesting and it probably won't make sense.

14. Promethea: Book 5, by Alan Moore

Hmm. The final Promethea turned, somewhat unexpectedly apocalyptic. (I mean, it was mentioned in the fourth book but I didn't take it all that seriously.) In some ways I didn't like this one as well as the others, since I primarily enjoyed the shenanigans of Promethea while on Earth and in the kabbalistic system; in other ways, though, I did really enjoy this story. It's an unusual take on the standard apocalypse story, which was nice. The same caveats from above still apply, though this was a lot less dependent on esoteric knowledge than the previous books.

I'm amazed by your variety of books. I tend to stay within my favorite genre- Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I'm also impressed by the goal you have set. I wonder.... What kind of job do you have? And do you have any children? I have 2 so it's sometimes hard to get my books in around being a Mom. Well GL, I'll be watching your progress, LOL.

Thanks! Usually, I tend to stay in my own genres too- also fantasy/sci-fi, plus 19th C. classic-types- but I've been trying to branch out. That's one of the main reasons I'm using the 1001 list, actually- helps me try new types of books.

As far as the goal goes- well, I'm a teacher, but for a private company, so I'm only working about 12 hours/week right now. And no kids, so I have plenty of time. I read pretty quickly, so even when I'm busy I tend to read a lot, but I'm sure that my reading habits will change dramatically once I have kids- I'll just have to enjoy the next few years of distraction-free reading, I guess.

I always wonder if anyone reads my posts and reviews, so it was very nice seeing your post. Thanks, both for the interest and the well-wishes!

15. The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter
16. Class: A guide through the American Status System, by Paul Fussell

The Bloody Chamber was recommended by a friend of mine upon my mentioning that I sometimes enjoy retellings of classic fairy tales. It's a collection of short stories, retold in a number of ways- some change the historical setting of the stories, such as in the titular story, while others change the moral of the story, such as in "The Werewolf." Some were easily recognizable- "The Bloody Chamber" is clearly a revision of Bluebeard- while others weren't as clear to me- some, like "the Erl-King" and "The Tiger's Bride" were completely new to me, though I assume some of that is simply caused by a lack of familiarity with some fairy tales. Although the stories in The Bloody Chamber are more explicit and sometimes more gruesome than the versions that most Americans are familiar with (see Disney versions), they were pretty much on par with the more traditional versions in that respect (see original Brothers Grimm versions). The back of the book refers to the sensuality of the stories repeatedly and, in several reviews, the feminist aspect- neither one was particularly apparent to me, which I consider a good thing. These were neither particularly feminist, unlike some more self-concious retellings, nor "sensual," which I find too often means that the author has introduced sexuality into inappropriate places. Some of the stories did give the female characters more active roles, and some did involve sex, or sexuality, so in a very literal sense they may be feminist and sensual- I just want to separate the unfortunate connotations that these terms often have from these stories. Some of the stories were excellent- I especially recommend "The Bloody Chamber," "The Tiger's Bride," and "Wolf-Alice"- while others were only acceptable- "Puss-in-Boots," for example, was cute but not particularly amazing. Thumbs up for the writing style, which is descriptive without being verbose, and precise without being confusing, brusque, or hard to follow.

Class: a guide through the America Status System was a complete change in direction, though it was recommended by the same friend. Fussell is just as delightfully cranky as he was in BAD: the Dumbing of America, which I reviewed a few entries back. He is also, unfortunately, just as dated. In Class, he delineates, and then skewers, the various methods that Americans have of broadcasting social class, sparing no group his scorn. Many of his observations are as true today as when he wrote the book (1982), but others are sadly out of touch. His comments on home ownership (though by using that term I have no doubt lowered my own class in his venerable eyes), for example, seem strangely antiquated, given the current market. Other comments, such as those on the quality of food found in restaurants, also seem out of touch, given the changes seen in dining out in the last twenty-odd years. However, it was still fun to read, and I've been enjoying trying to identify my own class, as well as the classes of my friends and family, at least according to his scheme. One warning: don't read this if you are easily offended by pretense/pomposity. Fussell's full of both, and my boyfriend would become enraged whenever I read something out of here to him. Oops.

16/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
6/50 atypical-for-me books
3/30 non-fiction

I've been reading from about four different books for the last week and so haven't finished much, but here is at least one that is all the way read.

17. The Year of Living Biblically, by A. J. Jacobs

Based on the reviews, title, and cover, I expected this to be funny, somewhat satirical, and mocking. It was funny, but not to much the rest. I didn't end up laughing as much as I expected, but I was so impressed by this guy's apparent sincerity that I didn't mind at all.

It seems that Mr. Jacobs is a big fan of tackling crazy assignments, that he sets for himself, and then writing books about the experience. He also wrote a book about reading the whole encyclopedia (The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World) and works as an editor of some kind at Esquire. So, the wacky premise of this book, that he will spend one year trying to adhere to the literal rules in the Bible as literally as possible, sounds pretty on par with his other work. He even announces in the beginning that his goals include getting a book contract (and thus making money), and poking fun at people who claim to take the Bible literally.

Maybe it's a pose, maybe it's being a new father, or maybe it's just being sincere about his other goal (to give spirituality an honest try), but this book didn't come off as mocking to me at all. Sure, it includes chapters on him doing all kinds of crazy stuff, like trying to stone adulterers and sabbath-breakers, but he also spends some time thinking about what it means to honor his parents, and to say only that which will send good into the world. As someone who was raised in a fairly religious family, the verses that he refers to (and he does refer to the Bible often) were frequently familiar, and, in many cases, ones that I had once struggled with myself. Jacobs does a really nice job of trying to find the meaning underlying seemingly insane Bible verses, and of considering multiple possibilities.

As a sincere look at Biblical literalism, with humor scattered throughout, this makes for a nice read. I would recommend it for anyone interested in trying to understand Biblical legalism, whether in favor of it or against. Some people might find parts of it offensive, but to me, his honesty and sincerity should overrule a lot of theological differences.

In progress: Bobos in Paradise, Abroad: British literary traveling between the wars, The Shepherd Kings, Generation X, and, technically, still Tristram Shandy- on my fifth renewal for that one.

17/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
6/50 atypical-for-me books
4/30 non-fiction

18. The Shepherd Kings, by Judith Tarr

This is the fourth Judith Tarr book that I've read, starting with The Dagger and the Cross, moving through The Hound and the Falcon, and ending with Rite of Conquest, at least until now. What I've found is that these novels, at least in the order in which I read them, moved from historical fiction with some magic/fantasy elements, to historical fiction with fantasy and romance woven in, to more romance with some erotica thrown in, to full blown erotica/romance with some historical fiction thrown in. Didn't really expect all those sex scenes, to be honest. Whew.

The premise of the book is that the Lower Kingdom of Egypt is preparing to declare war on the foreign kings that have been ruling in the Upper Kingdom for the last hundred years. We have two main characters, cousins, one a male that is living as an exile from his homeland in the Upper Kingdom but has found great favor at the court of the king of the Lower Kingdom, and one a female that is living as a slave to a fairly lenient foreign master in her family's old estates in the Upper Kingdom. Each one wants to see the foreign rulers cast out, and takes whatever possible steps towards this goal. There is a side adventure into Crete, when one of our heroes goes there to seal an alliance, but the bulk of the book follows the two protagonists as they grow up and head towards war. There are several priestesses in this book, and plenty of characters believe in magic, but no actual magic takes place, making this much less fantasy-esque than Tarr's other books that I've read. In fact, it's really not fantasy at all. It's a romance, set in a historical setting (which she claims was taken at least to some extent, from reality), with lots and lots of sex.

Which is not to say that this book, or those sex scenes, were bad. They were your standard falling-in-love-while-ravishing-the-one-you're-supposed-to-hate kind of scenes, but no so bad for all of that. I would just warn others who might have read some of Ms. Tarr's other books that The Shepherd King sits much farther into the romance camp than, say, The Hound and the Falcon (which I rather liked) did. All in all, it struck me as an okay book- neither particularly good nor particularly bad. The beginning was a little bit boring but the story picked up as it moved forward. The plot was pretty straightforward, since the real focus is on the romances between various characters. Maybe fans of romances will have more appreciation for this book. As for me- ehn.

18/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
6/50 atypical-for-me books
4/30 non-fiction

I suppose I could count this as atypical, since I don't usually read such romance-heavy books, but I didn't know that going in, so I won't.

19. Bobos in Paradise, by David Brooks

Yet another book about the American class system. This, as opposed to Class: a guide through the American Status System, is somewhat more up-to-date and less cranky. The author self-identifies as a member of the class he is discussing, the Bohemian Bourgeoisie, or the educated elite, aka BoBos, and seems extremely pleased with himself about, well, everything.

First he explains how the BoBos came to be (basically as a synthesis of '60s radicalism and pre-'50s ambitions) and then how they, with their "meritocracy" came to take the place of the monied classes as the social leaders. He then spends the rest of the book detailing what it means to be a BoBo. He tells us what they wear, what they eat, what they buy and buy, where they travel, what they spend money on, and so on. He ends by stating that the BoBo age is here to stay and peace and prosperity will abound for those wise enough to buy into their belief system.

Anyone who has lived in the Bay Area will immediately recognize the people he is describing- think Noe Valley, Mill Valley, actually, anywhere in Marin pretty much, Berkeley, parts of Oakland, etc. Also, the Village in NYC has a lot of them these days, as do parts of LA, though it's more spread out there. My point, though, is that yes, these people exist. However, the author made a few egregious mistakes. First, he wrote this in 2000.

Yes, this is definitely a pre-9/11 book. A lot of what he says about the American economy and American social values are going to seem just as dated as those in Fussell's book. Right- we're living in the age of global supremacy, peace, and prosperity, which is why it cost me $9 to buy a coffee when I was in England this summer. However, back in 1999, or 2000, I can see how it might have looked that way, especially for someone really optimistic.

The other mistake that really bothered me is that this author takes a lot of good ideas/motives/goals and then turns them all wrong. Like being environmentally conscious while wanting to own nice things. These are both reasonable goals, right? His solution? Buy a Range Rover! Wait, what?! How in the world is that environmentally conscious? And so on. The book is filled with statements like that. I found myself saying yes, yes, yes, NO! DEAR GOD NO! often throughout the book. Reading about the BoBos, according to Mr. Brooks, was like reading about an evil version of me with a lot more money and a lot less honesty.

As an addition to the panoply of books about the US's social structure, it was alright, though neither as amusing as Class, nor as useful as, well, not being oblivious to reality.

19/150 total
1/15+ 1001 books
7/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

Found how to get a bar thing! Woot! I still can't get the first one to work (zokutou), but the second link did! Since I have many goals but do not want to overwhelm my entries with sparkly bars, I will start with just one, for my total goal. Here it is:


19 / 150 words. 13% done!

13% already?! Maybe I should slow down a little bit . . .

How do you add the bar thing to your post??

How do you add the bar thing to your post??

I went to the 50 Book Challenge page and followed the second link at the end of the "Do I have to read 50 books?" paragraph. It takes you to a page for keeping track of NaNoWriMo word counts, but you can just input your book numbers instead. After you enter your Current Book Count and Total Book Goal and then hit Calculate, it should refresh the page and a new window with the html code for your bad will appear. Then you just copy and paste the code into your entry and voila! Bar it up!

In case it helps, here's the link straight to the page:

http://languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html

20. The Maxx, Volume 2, by Sam Keith and Messner-Loebs

Not much to say about this. It's the Maxx. It's weird. It's a comic/graphic novel. I suppose graphic novel is better, to make it clearer that this is definitely not for kids. Either way, it's fun and made for a nice break.

In progress: The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Abroad: British literary traveling between the wars, Generation X, and, technically, still Tristram Shandy, though I think I'm going to have to shelve that one for now, since I'm running out of renewals. Oh well. I'll pick it up at a bookstore and try again some day.


20 / 150 words. 13% done!

1/15+ 1001 books
7/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

21. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon

Set in the bleak world of Sitka, Alaska, this alternative history by the author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is an odd mixture of detective story, personal redemption, and Judaica. For this familiar with the escapades of Kavalier and Clay, the Jewish aspect and the screwed up protagonist will be a return to old territory but the book is otherwise quite different. The protagonist, a Jewish detective by the name of Landsman, is an alcoholic wreck of a man who is strongly reminiscent of detective greats such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlow. In fact, the whole book reads like it was penned by someone who had recently spent a lot of time reading Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett. Since both were brilliant writers in their own ways, the resemblance is not unpleasant, and Chabon adds enough of his own voice for it not to feel plagiarized.

The story itself revolves around the mysterious homicide of a junkie who, conveniently, lived in the same building as Mr. Landsman. As the Jews of Sitka prepare for Reversion (the revocation of the temporary permit allowing for the Jewish settlement of this district of Alaska), Landsman strives to solve this one last case, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage some shred of professional pride. He gallivants about the Alaskan countryside, delves deep into the seamy underbelly of the frontier town, and offends most of the leaders of the various Jewish communities, all in the name of the law. Shenanigans ensue, and, as more information begins to surface, the case takes on ever more complicated implications. Add in Landsman's half-Tlingit Indian partner (and cousin), his ex-wive who is brought in to supervise the police force and prepare it for Reversion, and apocalyptic visions, and you have quite the melee.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union is at its best when it sticks to exploring Landman's past, present, and regrets. His relationships with Berko (the partner) and Bina (the ex-wife) are especially human, in that they are riddled with miscommunication and failure, yet sincere nonetheless. The parts of the story that feel more like moralizing about the fate of the Jews, the corruption of the American government, and apocalyptic delusions were less successful. I'm not entirely sure what Chabon is trying to say about these topics, to be honest; the story just felt tainted by some kind of obscure moral lesson at times.

Compared to TAAKC, The Yiddish Policemen's Union was more realistic (except for the whole Jewish settlement in Alaska thing), and more fast-paced. On the whole, I actually think I liked TAAKC slightly better, but TYPU was still a very strong book. One warning- there are a lot of Jewish in-jokes, and those without a background in Yiddish/Jewish culture/Torah/etc might be a bit perplexed at times. Still readable, since plenty of Yiddish has made it into mainstream culture, but I thought I'd put it out there.


21 / 150 words. 14% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
7/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

22. The Maxx, Volume 3, by Sam Keith and Messner-Loebs

Hmm. The Maxx graphic novels seem to be branching away from the cartoon that initially got me into the character. I'd read some single issues before, but this has been my first foray into the full-fledged, bound graphic novels. It's . . . interesting. Volume 1 is a lot like the cartoon- Maxx does crazy things, Julie is a lovable nutball, Sarah likewise. It's sometimes very funny. Volume 2 is a bit darker- the not-so-lovable side of Julie's nuttiness comes out, and the events are less funny and more creepy. Sarah starts to develop a bit more, but is still primarily an angst-filled teenager, albeit one who is beginning to recognize this and communicate. Maxx is still Maxx. His crazy is still usually funny crazy, though not always.

And now, volume 3. Julie is a lot less crazy and we find out why she has been so crazy, maybe. Maxx is not very crazy at all, and we learn his history. Maybe. Sarah has developed into a pretty decent person, and is maybe the least crazy of them all. BUT. Given the source of the information, and the fact that there are something like 4 more graphic novels, I suspect foul play. Or something. I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, kids.

Anyway, The Maxx is still fun, if weird, sometimes violent, creepy fun.


22 / 150 books. 15% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
7/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

23. Generation X, by Douglas Coupland

How to describe Generation X? It was written in 1991 and focuses on the lives of three people in their late twenties who have abandoned their mainstream jobs and lives in favor of a more austere existence in Palm Springs. The storyline (if you can really call it that) follows the three of them over the course of several months, as they expound upon their theories of the world, mainly via stories. In one sense, this book is reminiscent of On The Road- the characters are just, sort of, going. No real destination, no real plans. They're trying to find themselves through their experiences, which they attempt to "purify" by disassociating themselves from popular culture. However, they still interact with various other characters, some from Palm Springs, some from elsewhere, and there are a whole lot of pop culture references, so their disassociation feels more like the self-conscious irony so popular today.

The one thing that Coupland did really well was capture the frustration of being a twentysomething. That feeling that you're not quite where you should be, and that maybe where you should be isn't anywhere that you want to be, but that, in that case, you have no idea where you're going or what's next. He's not the only author to capture this, naturally, but he did it nicely. Even the dated aspects of this book don't alter that. As a twentysomething myself (at least for a little bit longer), I could really identify with some of what the characters were saying and feeling; other things, though, felt contrived or irrelevant in today's world.

The lack of a forward-moving plot made the book a bit hard to get into, and, even when I could empathize with the main characters, I still found them rather annoying, or trite, or self-centered. They epitomize the intentionally bohemian artist-types, who like to moan about how pointless our lives are, and act terribly superior for having realized this, without being interested in doing anything to change the situation, aside from maybe running away. Because of this, I just couldn't get myself very worked up over anything that happened to them. I was curious, but not emotionally attached.

As a look at a specific subgroup of American culture in the '80s and '90s, Generation X works well. I kind of wish I had read it in my early twenties, but I'm also kind of glad I didn't, since having my feelings of smug ennui substantiated might have made me a terrible prig. I wouldn't want to know these people any more, but reading about their hijinks was still entertaining.


23 / 150 books. 15% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
8/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

24. Tehanu, by Ursula K. Le Guin
25. Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

24. Tehanu is the last book of the Earthsea Cycle, at least as far as I can tell. Like the other books, this is a fantasy novel but, also like the other books, it has its own distinct theme. Tehanu picks up the story of Tenar, from The Tombs of Atuan and the action starts at about the same as that of The Farthest Shore. Since her arrival in Havnor, Tenar has created a life for herself as the wife of a farmer. She is a mother and recent widow, and seems to have left her adventuring days behind. One day she hears of a little girl who has been raped, beaten, burned, and left for dead by a group of beggars. Although the little girl is severely injured, Tenar takes her in and adopts her as a daughter, her own children having grown up and moved away.

The story line follows Tenar and her adopted child as they return to Ogion, Ged's first master from A Wizard of Earthsea. Never welcomed by the people of Re Albi, Tenar must now deal not only with their distrust of her but also their malice towards her child. Into the middle of this arrives Ged, broken down by the final battle in The Farthest Shore and looking only to escape. The three of them must redefine their relationships with each other as they adjust to the new world they find themselves in.

Filled with plot twists and connections, Tehanu} makes for an enjoyable addition to the Earthsea Cycle. Le Guin tied up a lot of loose ends and gave her characters endings that while happy, were not saccharine. The plot twists were somewhat transparent, but then, the book was written for adolescents. Like the other Earthsea novels, these were less filled with adventure than your typical fantasy novel but had characters that were developed enough to compensate. The child, Therru, was the only one that I wish had been more fleshed out, since her character was intriguing. The way that Le Guin dealt with the aging of her protagonists and their attempts to deal with the accompanying changes in their lives was admirable, and I for one will be sad to see the last of them.

25. Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein

Okay, this I picked up purely because there was a platypus in the title, but since I've always meant to brush up on my philosophy, it was like hitting two birds with one stone. I didn't expect much from this little book and was pleasantly surprised. The authors, both erstwhile students of philosophy at Harvard, take the reader through a whirlwind review of philosophy. So far, so typical. What's not so typical is their stated goal- to demonstrate the similarities between philosophy and jokes, and to use the latter to explain the former. The jokes they use are, by and large, "oldies but goodies"- ie likely to produce a chuckle at most. Nonetheless, the book is cleverly written and makes for a pleasant little read. High brow literature? No, but a heck of a lot more readable than Schopenhauer, last I checked.


25 / 150 books. 17% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
9/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

26. Carry On, Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse

A reasonably amusing book about a boy and his valet, Carry On, Jeeves details a number of escapades in the life in man-about-town Bertie Wooster. Although he has money and time to spare, not to mention friends with names like Sippy, Biffy, and Bicky, he is somewhat deficient in the intellectual realm, which is where his prim, proper, and perspicacious manservant, Jeeves, comes in. Whether the problem at hand involves getting a friend out of an unwanted engagement, or back together with an estranged fiancee, Jeeves is certain to have a clever plan at the ready, with contingency plans as well.

The cover of this edition displays a quote from Douglas Adams, stating that "Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever." If this book is a good indicator of his abilities, this claim is patently false. Carry On, Jeeves was funny, sure, but the greatest anything ever? No. Not by a long shot. It's on the level of, if it occurs to me next time at the library I'll pick up another volume, but don't plan to put it on hold, much less buy it.


26 / 150 books. 17% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
9/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

I so agree with you re Inkheart. I am not usually into this type of book, either adult or kid level, but I really enjoyed this book and recommended it to others. I would have loved to have this book when I was young enough to read it for a book report.

No kidding! At least I can look forward to reading the third book myself, once it is published in English, and then reading them to my kids someday. In the meantime . . .

27. The Beach, by Alex Garland (no touchstones on the book, since they lead to some James Patterson book)

Yes, this is the book on which the Leonardo Di Caprio movie was based. The basic premise is that a young English backpacker meets a very mysterious fellow-traveler while in Bangkok. Said mysterious traveler then commits suicide, but not before leaving an enigmatic map on our hero's door. Another traveler who he meets through the suicide tells our hero about a rumor making the rounds about a perfect beach that no one can find, and they realize that the map must show the way to the island. They decide to take the gamble and set off for the beach.

For those who are worried about spoilers in the previous paragraph, don't be. The above summary only covers the first few pages on the book. The bulk of the novel takes place on the island, where our travelers find a strange backpacker commune of sorts. They settle into the beach lifestyle and all appears to be going well, until . . . well, to finish that I actually would need spoilers, and I'm not that kind of girl. Suffice it to say, things go terribly, terribly awry.

As a miscellaneous pop novel, this wasn't bad. Having been to most of the places they describe (Khao San Road, Ko Samui, Ko Phi Phi- for the record, I only went to the legal part) definitely added to my enjoyment of the book, as did the author's fairly scathing portrait of hippy backpackers. My boyfriend, who recommended the book and who has heard me rant about said backpackers on many occasions, informs me that such people tend to love this book. I find this perplexing, since it paints them in a far from flattering light. The author has obviously spent some time in the company of those who travel to exotic places, and he has their types down cold. The characters (though caricatures might be a more apt term) were pretty much all easily recognizable, from the flirtatious girl with her boyfriend, to the maverick explorer, to the pompous too-cool-for-words leader. Oh yes, Mr. Garland, you know the types. The fact that the books supposedly takes place in Thailand, and that the travelers pride themselves on having found this pristine place, untouched by Western tourists, yet never interact with any Thai people (well, almost never) is no accident. The corresponding fact that, when traveling in these places and with these people, it is tacitly assumed that one has read this book yet will not acknowledge having done so, since doing so would make you a tourist as opposed to traveler, also coincides with the image of traveler culture that Mr. Garland has created. Anyone who reads this and thinks it puts a positive spin on that mindframe has, in my opinion, completely missed the point, and it's a very good point.

So: plot-line? Decent. Writing? So-so. Characterizations? Solid. An acceptable, fun, easy-to-read thriller- and yes, I use the term 'thriller' loosely- but an excellent critique of extreme backpacker culture.


27 / 150 books. 18% done!
1/15+ 1001 books
10/50 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

Life seems to have gotten in the way recently, so I haven't been keeping up with my reviews. Unfortunately, this means that my memory isn't as fresh as usual and my reviews will therefore be less detailed. Onward and upward.

28. Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban

As a literary experiment, this was great. I really enjoyed the way the author played with the English language, and it was obvious that he spent a ton of time thinking about the ways in which the language might mutate. His sketch of what kind of culture might develop in the centuries after a major nuclear explosion was also really well-thought out and intriguing. The downside to all this is that it seemed to come at the expense of the plot, which was thin to non-existent. This was much more of an experiment in culture than a novel. While I don't think that is an inherently bad thing, I wish I had known that going in, and would warn anyone to whom I might recommend this book.

29. Washington Square, by Henry James

I used to think I hated Henry James, based on my reading of The Wings of the Dove, in which I found the plot potentially riveting and yet ruined by James' prose style. Kind of like Women in Love, which I read during the same era. Then I picked up Portrait of a Lady while living in Thailand (which led to me being desperate for books in English other than the newest Dan Brown/John Grisham/you get the idea crap "novel") and rather enjoyed it. A recent read of Altar of the Dead convinced me that I ought to give good old James another try, so I picked up Washington Square, a perennial favorite in the world of SAT essay examples here in NYC. Since my students talk about it all the time, I already knew the storyline and figured it would be nice if I could discuss it with them.

The story of Catherine Sloper's ill-fated romance with Morris Townsend is sad, but in that bittersweet, 'it didn't have to be this way' kind of way. There isn't any one person to blame for the sequence of events, but I did find myself wanting to reach into the book to smack some sense into almost all of them at one point or another. I did get the feeling that James was implying that he found the father to be the most to blame, which I can't entirely agree with. The action of the novel takes place almost entirely in the drawing room of Catherine's home on Washington Square, in a corporeal sense, and internally in a more accurate sense. This book is more of a character study than a novel, and looks at the ways in which one person's attitudes and actions can affect the lives of others, a point which is particularly appropriate when discussing a culture not known for its open communication. The writing itself was a lot less rambling than I remember The Wings of the Dove's writing to have been, and not as archaic as some of the other books from this era. However, I don't always notice older language, so I might not be the best judge of that. I did find this to be a very quick and easy read though, and reasonably interesting.

30. Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys

Somehow, at some point, I got the crazy idea that this was by the author of Clan of the Cave Bear, and was part of that series. Boy did I feel silly when I finally discovered that it is in truth a prequel-of-sorts to Jane Eyre, a book of which I am rather fond. Strange, the incorrect connections our minds make.

This trend continued, since my mind associates Jane Eyre with turn-of-the-century England. I therefore assumed this book would be set in said location. Imagine my surprise when I opened the book and found that it was set in . . . Dominica? Which, it turns out, is not the same as the Dominican Republic. And the time during which it is set is the mid-1800s. Stranger and stranger.

I mention all of so that anyone reading this will know how I came to Wide Sargasso Sea, since I definitely think the many misunderstandings in my head affected my reading of the book. The story of Antoinette's (aka Bertha) childhood and eventual marriage to Mr. Rochester are told in a style somewhat reminiscent of stream-of-consciousness writers, such as Joyce or Faulkner, but then, not really. The two main characters take turns telling the story, without obvious indicators to let the reader known who is talking, and they tell it based on their understanding of the situation. Thus, the stories about what happened during Antoinette's childhood aren't always all that clear, and the reader gets the impression that this is because the events weren't clear to Antoinette. By the end of the novel, the chronology is very confused, since the narrator is no longer at all trustworthy.

For fans of Jane Eyre, this is an interesting addition to the story. For those who hated Jane Eyre, this might also be enjoyable, since I've heard many LTers use it as grounds on which to bash Mr. Rochester and Jane. I don't see it that way at all, but hey. The writing and story would make this a reasonably enjoyable read for anyone interested in colonialism, feminism during the 1800s, or stream-of-consciousnessesque/dreamlike narrative style, along with those JE fans/haters mentioned above. One last note- I almost never read prefaces/notes/annotations, since I find that they are more likely to distract me from the book than help deepen my understanding, but this book was definitely an exception. Once I started using the footnotes (I read the Norton Annotated Edition), the book became both easier to follow (the editors conveniently let you know when the speaker switches) and more enjoyable. YMMV of course, but I found the notes very helpful.


30 / 150 books. 20% done!
2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

31. The Maxx: Volume 4, by Sam Kieth

I had no idea that The Maxx got so dark as the series progressed. This volume was good, but definitely not light-hearted or zany, which is kind of how I tend to think of The Maxx. Lots of abuse, messed-up childhoods, and body parts. Yikes. Two more volumes to wrap this one up.

For any fans out there, this picks up about 10 years after the end of Volume 3 and follows Sara as she tries to live her life. Everything seems to have gone horribly wrong for most (all?) of our characters, and they're only looking to get worse. Various supernatural events cause Sara to get back in touch with Mr. Gone, Maxx, and eventually Julie, but the affectionate fun that generally accompanied their previous bizarre experiences and relationships is, well, gone. Instead, we learn about Mr. Gone's childhood, Julie's spiral into homelessness, and Sara's inability to have real relationships. Like I said, not your earlier Maxx.


31 / 150 books. 21% done!
2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

Keep . . . getting . . . behind . . .! Gah! I'm spending all my time reading, leaving none to post on here. Oh, the humanity! Since I only have a sec before I have to get ready for work, these will be brief.

32. The Maxx: Volume 5, by Sam Kieth
33. 100 Bullets: Decayed, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
34. 100 Bullets: Once Upon a Crime, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso

The Maxx: Volume 5 is the end of the storyline, it turns out, since Volume 6 is just a bunch of side stories. Which could be fun and all, but I was a bit surprised when I got to the end of this one and it was very, well, end-y. Less incredibly dark than volume 4, but still not as goofy as the early few. The story picks up right where volume 4 left off and follows Sarah's quest to save Julie. There's a nice side-story about a girl named Megan that actually takes up a lot of room, and another, shorter, side story about a bickering married couple, as well as a chapter detailing the exploits of the characters in a television show called Fred Flower and Uncle Italian Moose. You get the idea- lots of side stories. This volume did do a nice job of pulling it all together though, and tied up more of the loose ends than I had anticipated, given that it is the Maxx.

100 Bullets- seriously, these are great comics. If you like guns and conspiracies and stuff, I mean. One of these days I'll write a real review of them but man, they are fun.


34 / 150 books. 23% done!
2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
5/30 non-fiction

And I decided to start keeping track of how many graphic novels I read too, though I don't have a goal on that one. So far I'm at:

8 Graphic Novels/34 Books

>28 Kplatypus: Tehanu is the last book of the Earthsea Cycle, at least as far as I can tell. . . . I for one will be sad to see the last of them.

Then I get to bring some (maybe) good news. There are two other Earthsea books - Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind. Tales from Earthsea is a book of short stories that take place in the Earthsea world at various points in the timeline. The Other Wind is a novel and is the last (as of now) book of Earthsea. This takes place after Tehanu and it continues the story of Tenar, Tehanu, and King Lebannen.

Personally, I thought Tales from Earthsea was only alright, but The Other Wind is quite good.

The Other Wind is a novel and is the last (as of now) book of Earthsea.

Well, that it good news! I knew about Tales from Earthsea but am generally not a huge fan of the semi-connected short story-type of books, but I thought The Other Wind was more of the same. Thanks for the tip!

Edited to fix html

35. The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become The Smartest Person in the World, by A. J. Jacobs

Wow, I loved this book. Seriously. As in I have a total author crush on this guy, and have considered not only sending fan mail but also hanging out in his neighborhood here in NYC, in case he happens to see me reading his book. We're talking that level of love. And for those who've been reading this thread, you know how rarely I rhapsodize.

The premise of the book is straightforward: Mr. Jacobs proposes to read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica. His goal: to regain some of the intelligence that he fears he has lost in his post-collegiate days. Since he works as a journalist/editor at Esquire, his specific concern is that pop cultural knowledge has taken over and forced all prior knowledge out. So he buys a leatherette-bound set and goes to work.

The book follows him throughout his journey, rejoicing as he succeeds, sympathizing as he stumbles. As we learn some of the facts that most stand out to our noble hero (such as the one detailing Rene Descartes' fetish for cross-eyed women), we also learn about his life. He and his wife are attempting to conceive, which adds an interesting counterpoint to the reading. He also decides to try out for Jeopardy, and feels compelled to share his newfound knowledge with friend and foe alike, leading to many amusing incidents.

What I loved about this book are the tone, which is informative but light-hearted and funny, and the snippets of info. As someone who loves learned odd bits of trivia, I found his selections so enticing that, if I had the money, I would go buy the EB. Since I live in NYC, I read on the subway a lot and tend to keep my emotions veiled, but this book had me laughing out loud on a regular basis. Which really confused people when they saw that I was reading a book about reading the encyclopedia, actually. But hey- it's just that funny.

In short- read this book. For once, I'm not adding any qualifiers, since I'm assuming that everyone on this website has an interest in learning and knowledge. And go buy a copy, because I can already tell that I will need to do so, so that I can refer back to it in conversation. And if you read this by chance, Mr. Jacobs, don't worry- I actually have a legitimate reason for being in your neighborhood and am not, in fact, a stalker. Everyone else- get reading!

Fancy new ticker alert!




That's right, everyone. Bats and pigs have joined the platypus. We're a veritable animal army these days. An army of reading animals, that is.

2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
6/30 non-fiction
8 Graphic Novels

I loved that book, too! And, I read The Year of Living Biblically this year, which I also highly recommend.

Yeah, I read that earlier! Also a great book. Jacobs' style is just so engagingly quirky, not to mention informative. I can't wait for his next zany obsession.

I have been making a concerted effort to read more non-fiction books, along with books from genres other than those I traditionally favor. My goal is/was simply to prevent myself from reading too much fluffy stuff. In itself, I still think this is a marvelous goal; however, it turns out that the months spent waiting to hear back from law schools might not be the best time for it. It's just way too hard to focus on Joyce when you're mind is mainly focused on waiting to hear the postman's arrival. Yikes.

So, here's my current reading, though, lovely as both of these books are, they may go on the backburner until my mind if more composed, and thus able to appreciate them:

The Dubliners by James Joyce
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (though I would not call this lovely in the least and may not return to it at all)
Abroad: British Literary Traveling between the Wars by Paul Fussell

Instead, I think I will turn to some old favorites and ya that I picked up from the Library Book Sale. Sigh. Someday I will return to you, fancy books. Someday.

#41: it turns out that the months spent waiting to hear back from law schools might not be the best time for it. It's just way too hard to focus on Joyce when you're mind is mainly focused on waiting to hear the postman's arrival. Yikes.

That was me a year ago--not for law school, but applying for my PhD. Seven of the folks in my TA office at the university where I was doing my masters were all applying for PhD programs--that was one seriously frazzled office for a few months there. We were checking e-mail on a half-hourly basis. Good luck!

Thanks for the well-wishes, Medellia12! I'm just looking forward to the day when all the waiting will be over and I can get on with making plans for next fall! And now, on to the easier book review.

36. Mary Poppins, by P. L. Travers

I either heard or read an article about P. L. Travers about a year ago (I think it was on NPR, in fact) that described Ms. Travers reaction (tears) when she saw the premier of Disney's movie version of her book. The show talked about how the original character of Mary Poppins was actually kind of sinister, and said that Ms. Travers response was due to her horror as what Disney had done to her story by making it, well, Disneyfied. Ever since, I've meant to read the book myself, so when I saw it on the shelves of the library book sale, I picked it up.

The story is much the same as the one in the movie- the childrens' nanny disappears abruptly, and just as the mother is getting into a tizzy over finding a new nanny, Mary Poppins arrives on the front steps. She is very mysterious and proceeds to lead the children on various madcap adventures. The differences between the book and the movie, plot-wise, are minimal- Bert is a match seller instead of a chimney sweep, there are four children instead of two (but the other two are babies and don't often factor into the story), the children don't come on the trip into the street painting, the mother is not a suffragette, etc. Nothing big. What is different, however, is the character of Mary. In the movie she is stern at time, but generally lovable and charming, making it easy to see why the children love her. In the book, on the other hand, she's kind of creepy. She is consistently described as incredibly vain (the book has her staring at her reflection every few pages), rude (she denies that any of the adventures ever happens and mocks the children for believing in them), and short-tempered. The children appear to be terrified of her, since they regularly check themselves out of fear of her reaction. They do, however, also seem to adore her, for reasons that are not clear. As for me, I would not want to know this woman, much less have her care for my children. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

Still, the book was entertaining, and I did enjoy comparing it to the movie. Not sure that I would read it to my kids though, when I have some. I also suspect that, were it not for the movie, this book would not very well-known today. I do wonder, however, how much my perspective was tinted by hearing that article- perhaps if I had gone into the book without that expectation, I would have found Mary less sinister. Who knows? In the meantime, it was definitely easier to read than my other ongoing books.



2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
6/30 non-fiction
8 Graphic Novels

37. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

Yet another LT find. Thursday Next, the protagonist of The Eyre Affair, is a hard-boiled detective, with all the bravado and neuroses that entails. After an operation blows up in London, Thursday decides to recuperate in her hometown of Swindon. The fact that she suspects something sinister is about to be played out there contributes to that decision, naturally. Midnight chases, gun battles, and hostage situations ensue.

Sounds like your typical noir book so far, right? Only difference is, the London that this is set in is an alternative London that is obsessed with literature, shunned by the rest of Europe, and still at war in the Crimea. Thursday is a member of the LiteraTec division of SpecOps- ie she's a special operative who deals with literary crimes. Oh, and there are lots and lots of dodos. As in the bird.

I initially picked this up because several reviewers compared Jasper Fforde to Terry Pratchett, and the latter is one of my favorite authors. Although I could see the similarities, I don't think Mr. Fforde's writing is anywhere near as good as Mr. Pratchett's is. If Mr. Pratchett knows exactly how long to carry a joke, so that it settles on the reader in its entirety and is gone before it can be tedious, Mr. Fforde cuts himself off just a tiny bit too soon, which doesn't allow the reader to savor some very clever ideas. I do see enough potential to check out the next few books in the series and I'm hoping that Mr. Fforde will get that timing down, since he really does have some unique and clever ideas, and even with its flaws, The Eyre Affair was a fun read.

Ticker is being a poo, so I'm leaving it out this time. That brings the total to:

37/150 Read
2/15+ 1001 books
11/30 atypical-for-me books
6/30 non-fiction
8 Graphic Novels

I've read a couple of the Thursday Next books, as well as one from his Nursery Crimes series, and while I really enjoy them they can seem a bit over-stuffed -- Pratchett knows not to include eveyone in every story, so while I may say "Hey, where was Nobby?", if he wasn't needed, he wasn't in -- there are so many character and book references I feel almost illiterate, and unworthy of LT, if I don't recognize them all... but still, great books, I'll read more!

That's too bad- the being overstuffed part. Still, I agree that the first book at least was enjoyable enough for me to seek out some of the others. I'm kind of hoping that Mr. Fforde will find his natural stride as an author in the later books- I suppose time will tell. In the meantime:

38. Atonement, by Ian McEwan

So I finally gave into the hype and grabbed a (library) copy on Atonement. Given the hype, and the movie adaptation, I wasn't expecting much- I'm pretty cynical about these things. However, I was pleasantly surprised by both the plot and the writing. While I don't think this is a "masterpiece," as I've heard so many refer to it, I did find it a very enjoyable read.

WARNING: This review might be seen as including low-level spoilers.

Atonement tells the story of Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner, young lovers whose lives are torn apart by the lies of Cecilia's younger sister, Briony. The story is told, by and large, from Briony's point of view, and is made up of three parts. The first tells the story of what happened that summer, the second tells of Robbie's subsequent experiences in France during World War 2, and the final part tells of Briony's realization of the results of her actions and her attempts to, well, atone. The books ends with Briony as an old woman reflecting on her life, her actions, and her future.

The story of lovers waiting for each other through a war is a classic one, as is the story of a lover wronged, but McEwan did a nice job of combining the two. In most parts the novels flows well, and the changes in perspective and time don't come across as abrupt. However, one of my biggest complaints is that McEwan used foreshadowing with far too heavy a hand, especially in the first part of the book. The characters repeatedly say things like "Years later I would look back on that night and wish I could stop myself from committing the crime," or something of that sort. Over and over again. Annoying. I don't actually need to be spoonfed, you know? Still, most of the pacing felt natural. As far as the writing goes, there were chunks of beautifully crafted prose sprinkled among an expanse of perfectly fine if underwhelming prose. Which is fine, since I don't expect every writer to be Nabokov, and when McEwan did get the mood just right, it was lovely. He is particularly skilled at describing emotional and intellectual transitions- his description of Briony's thoughts while a child were striking for their accurate portrayal of the combined childishness and maturity often seen in children of that age. (The character is 13, for those who haven't read the book.)

The other aspect of the book that I felt was well-done were the descriptions of Robbie's experiences in France. Since I don't know a great deal about what happened during the earlier years of World War 2, I can't speak to the veracity of his descriptions, but the internal conversations that Robbie has struck me as both plausible and tragic, as he struggles to survive both physically and mentally, in the chaos of war. The same could be said of the descriptions of Briony's time working as a nurse, handling the wounded.

Aside from the sometimes mediocre writing, the actual story drew some criticism from me. The story of the enduring love between Cecilia and Robbie, based on one brief liaison, seemed highly unlikely to me, but then my friends do say I don't have a romantic bone in my body. I would disagree, but I digress. I can understand waiting for someone for years, if you have something to build on, but 5 minutes? Come on. When I forgot about the actual premise, I enjoyed the love story, but when it was brought to my attention by something in the story, I found myself scoffing all over again. It didn't ruin the book or anything, but it did strike me as requiring a huge suspension of disbelief.

Lately I've been horrified by what garbage is wildly popular (ahem *Dan Brown* cough), not to mention labeled a "modern classic", so I was pleased to find that this book, which falls into both of those categories, was not actually horrible, or brainless, or unspeakably (and pointlessly) pretentious (ahem *The Corrections* cough). Atonement is a thoroughly readable book and while I don't expect it to last the test of time required to make it a true classic, it at least needn't shame our generation.



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8 Graphic Novels

Wide Sargasso Sea is a book I've been meaning to read for a couple of years, but always gets shunted to the back of my reading list. Thanks for your insight, hopefully I'll get down to reading it this year.

Re: Message 47- I hope you enjoy it!

39. The Witch's Boy, by Michael Gruber

Yet another recommendation from a fellow LTer, The Witch's Boy was every bit as delightful as I had hoped. It tells the story of Lump, a boy who was abandoned as a baby and raised by a witch, with the help of a bear-nursemaid. Gruber manages to tie in a number of classic fairytales, though his versions are somewhat different from those we all know. The story follows Lump through a charmed (if less than happy) childhood, through a disastrous adolescence, and ends with him as a young adult. Although this is definitely a fantasy novel, it's also very much a coming-of-age novel, in the best sense. Lump is screwed up, in a pretty serious way, and Gruber doesn't shrink from portraying him as a complete jerk. As a protagonist, he's not very likable for most of the book. The reader understands why he does the things he does, but can't help but want to smack him upside the head sometimes. Oftentimes, if the reader is me.

One of my biggest complaints about modern children's/ya literature is that it so often tries to paint the world as more kindly, or people as more benevolent than they are. In some books (such as Little Lord Fauntleroy, one of my all-time favorites) this makes sense in the context of the novel; in others (I'm blanking on an example right now), it doesn't, and just feels contrived. The Witch's Boy, on the other hand, painted the world as a diverse place; some of the people are horrible, while others are generous and loving. Kind of like the real world, eh? Since the book can be really sad, and some pretty awful things happen, I wouldn't recommend this for really little ones, but its ultimate resolutions make it highly recommendable for junior high readers (or adults, of course).

So good job, Mr. Gruber. You get a solid thumbs up from me, both for ingenuity with your plot, and for honesty in your portrayal of humanity.

40. Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (graphic novel) - adaptation by Steve Niles and Elman Brown

I picked this up on a whim the last time I was at the library, thinking that my boyfriend might be interested since he had liked the movie reasonably well. By the time he was 10 pages in, he wouldn't shut up about it, and by the time he was done, he was practically trying to force me to read it, so he could discuss it with me.
Tonight, I both started and finished it.

Caveat: I have no idea how closely this follows the original book, and I have only my boyfriend's word when it comes to comparing it to the movie, as I did not see it. I may also include spoilers.

I Am Legend tells the story of Richard Neville, who believe himself to be the last man alive on earth. A plague of sorts has swept the world, turning everyone else into a vampire. (Why he is immune is discussed later in the book, for those who were wondering.) Neville lives in LA (not NY) and spends his days trying to create a life for himself, with some time out for killing vampires. He also tried to research the plague, to determine its cause and a possible cure.

According to the boyfriend, this is very different from the movie. Neville is not a scientist. He does not have a dog. He lives in LA. He is kind of creepy. The people are definitely vampires, and all of the terminology and superstitions associated as such are mentioned. It is also not a very hopeful book. At all, really.

It is, however, a very good book. Some of the scenes are rather heartbreaking, and this coming from a woman often accused of having no heart when it comes to books and movies. Tracking Neville's mental stages, from denial, to rage, to despair, to hope, back to despair, and ultimately to resignation of a sort is what really moves the book, since there's not a ton of plot. It still manages to be a page-turner, however, since the reader can easily identify with Neville's plight. At least I could.

Back in my misguided youth, I read A LOT of vampire fiction, and this is easily one of the better ones. I wish I had found it back then, actually- made I would have read less garbage. Who knows? It's a great graphic novel by any account, and I am eagerly awaiting word that the novel is available at the library, along with several other books by Matheson.



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9 Graphic Novels

Touchstones still seem to be acting up, shockingly enough. Hopefully they'll work here:

41. Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones

Honestly, this was pretty mediocre. I read Howl's Moving Castle a while back, after a number of my friends gave it rave reviews, and found it to be a decent if unexceptional read, so when I saw this on the Library Book Sale shelf, I figured why not? At least I only wasted 25 cents and a couple of hours of my life.

The story line is that Cat and Gwendolen Chant are orphans being raised by an old witch named Mrs. Sharp. Gwendolen is also a witch, and is considered one of the most promising young witches around. Shortly into the book, she and Cat are taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle, just as Gwendolen hoped and planned, However, the situation there ends up being quite different from what she expected. Part of the trouble is that she is an insufferable wretch who expects everyone to do as she says, which doesn't really give the reader anyone to identify with. Cat is okay, but he's really just a doormat through the bulk of the book. Gwendolen's mounting frustration leads to all kinds of madcap goings on, until the final showdown at the end of the book. The finale had more than a touch of Deus Ex Machina, and I found myself rolling my eyes with frequency.

Basically, the plot is pretty standard, the characters fairly two-dimensional, and the writing standard. It wasn't as bad as, say, A Wrinkle in Time, but I found Charmed Life dull and will not be seeking out the rest of the series.




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SO excited! I was finally picked for an Early Reviewers book! For some reason, this makes me feel loved and vindicated. Oh, the internets and their wacky ways. Still, very excited.

To kepe this on topic, my current reads are Kingdom of the Grail by Judith Tarr (and here I was claiming to be a book snob on someone else's list- this would be one of those guilty pleasures), and technically The Dubliners and The Death and Life of Great American Cities though both are sort of on hold. I may start in on The God Delusion soon too, since I have that from the library and it keeps getting requested by others, which makes me unable to renew. Downside of the library.

42. Kingdom of the Grail, by Judith Tarr

Hundreds of years after the death of King Arthur, a new king has risen to great power in England, and a new pupil has come to Merlin, trapped in his prison in Broceliande. Kingdom of the Grail tells the story of Roland, descendant of Merlin, Companion to King Charles, and Champion of the Grail. For those who have read the Song of Roland, the story will be familiar, though Ms. Tarr has added her usual assortment of magical beings, auxiliary characters, and, of course, romantic interludes. Moreover, where The Song of Roland ends, Kingdom of the Grail continues the story, asking the reader, 'what if?' Part historical fiction, part fantasy, part retelling, and part romance, Kingdom of the Grail brings the story of Roland, Sarissa, Charles, and the grail to life yet again.

Truth be told, Kingdom of the Grail is packed with melodrama, lovers' quarrels, and purple prose, as Ms. Tarr's books usually are. The ending also has that touch of deus ex machina that so often attends her climaxes. And yet . . . somehow, her books are still such fun, even when I do find myself rolling my eyes.



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The God Delusion's a good one; I've only just finished it, and so haven't got the review up (Al Gore distracted me), but probably my review will be about my making a slight prat of myself when getting the book signed, not my actual opinion. My actual opinion? The book is quite good. You could maybe skip the prefaces and come back to them later though. Especially the preface to the paperback edition. Either save that one until you get annoyed at him, or if you don't get annoyed at him, maybe read it when you are curious about the people who get annoyed at him. Also he is HILARIOUS. I heart him lots.

Thanks for the advice- I'm planning to start on that one next. I wasn't expecting hilarious, so that's encouraging.

43. Lost in a Good Book, by Jasper Fforde

While I still think that Mr. Fforde could improve his timing, Lost in a Good Book was still a fun read. Thursday Next, our heroine, is married to her beloved Landen and back to working in SpecOps 27 in Swindon. The Eyre Affair brought her a fair amount of fame, which she's learning to cope with while ducking out of SpecOps-PR-arranged interviews and workout videos. And then something mysterious happens, and life is not quite as she knows it. Throw in a side job in Jurisfiction, entropy disruptions, Dream Topping, and a long-lost play, and you're on your way to being 'lost in a good book.' Oh, that was terrible!



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So I kind of flaked on The God Delusion- I think I'm still feeling too frazzled for anything more than light reading. At least the library's letting me keep it for a while longer. In the meantime-

44. The Well of Lost Plots, by Jasper Fforde

Pregnant, missing a husband, and on the run from a new persecutor, Thursday Next has taken refuge in an unpublished book that resides in the Well of Lost Plots. Shortly after her arrival, however, she discovers that her vacation might not be quite as restful as she envisioned. Her training as a Jurisfiction agent, under the tutelage of Miss Havisham, continues apace as she fights to retain her memories of Landan, her eradicated husband. Being who she is, Thursday also manages to get herself deeply embroiled in the politics of BookWorld and finds herself on the trail of a murderer and a trail of corruption that leads her to some very unexpected places.

Like the previous two books in the series, The Well of Lost Plots was an enjoyable if unastounding book. Solidly good, I would say. The fact that I read two in a row (and will likely start the next in the series this evening) says something, I suppose. Mr. Fforde's ideas, at least, continue to amuse, as do his innovative takes on literature and literary people.



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This one's going to be brief, since I'm only writing this in order to procrastinate, and my other project is a paid writing gig, so I mustn't use up all my writing power for the night, don'tcha know.

45. Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde

As Thursday returns to the real world, she find that a few things have changed. England had gone violently pro-dictator and anti-Denmark under the leadership of Kaine, who regular readers will recognize from the previous book. On top of stopping Kaine's insane plans of world domination, Thursday must help her hometown croquet team win the championship, prevent Hamlet from doing anything rash, try to uneradicate her husband, and still find time to change her two-year old son's nappies. There's more, of course, but it's the same basic "the world could end, shenanigans galore, Thursday has to save the day" kind of deal. Still good, but still not great.



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46. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

Jerry Renault is a freshman at Trinity High School. Things are going well for him at school until he receives an "assignment" from the Vigils, the school's secret society: When the school's annual chocolate sale begins, don't sell the chocolates. As events spiral out of control, he begins to see not only his school, but his teachers, his classmates, and himself in new and not always very flattering ways.

Cormier does a great job of invoking the spirit of high school, with all of its desires, confusion, and volatility. It would have been very easy for this book to have turned into an after-school special type of thing, but it didn't. The actual events of the book are fairly mundane, even juvenile, but Cormier's writing brings out the intensity that they would have for a student in the school. This is a somewhat dark novel, in the sense that it unflinchingly looks at the capacity for barbarism that can be found in humans, especially those lingering between childhood and adulthood, when the cunning required for true cruelty has been developed but a full understanding of the consequences of one's action has not.

Why had I never heard of this book before a fellow LTer reviewed it? What a great novel. I only wish I could have read it while I was in high school and will definitely recommend it to others, especially my students and, when I have them, teenage children.



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>55 Kplatypus:
I think the Thursday Next books are best read with some time between each one, because they are pretty similar with respect to the overall plot and the jokes, so it's easy lose the goodness after you've read a couple back-to-back--like eating a whole tub of ice cream in one go.

Yeah, I could see that. I have a couple more books of his out right now but I'm planning to read them with breaks in between, and while I continue reading a few other books I've already started. Speaking of which:

47. The Touchstone, by Edith Wharton (ironically, the touchstone leads to the wrong book)

One of Edith Wharton's shorter, earlier, and happier books, The Touchstone looks at the ways in which the choices we make can come back to haunt us. Glennard, the main character, must weigh his desires and logic against what he feels to be right and then live with the consequences of his actions. It is also about the relationship between a husband and wife and how it evolves throughout a marriage. There are some amazing lines that demonstrate what a depth of insight Wharton really had into our relations with each other, such as: "We live in our own souls as in an unmapped region, a few acres of which we have cleared for our habitation; while of the nature of those nearest to us we know but the boundaries that march with ours." I love Edith Wharton.

Humorously, I picked this up at the library on a whim, only to realize, two pages in, that I had read it before- maybe with a different title? Either way, I couldn't remember the ending, so I read it again. While I don't love this book as I love her major works, it's pretty awesome.

and!

48. Dubliners, by James Joyce

Finished! Maybe this will make me sound like a donkey, but I didn't know this was a collection of short stories going in so when the story in the first chapter was not picked up in the second, it came as quite a surprise. I'm not generally a big fan of short stories, but there was something appealing about these. They weren't page-turning, gripping adventures, by any means, but they drew fascinating little portraits of everyday people, one by one painting a picture of Dublin as seen by Joyce.

My first attempt at Joyce was Finnegan's Wake, which turned out to be, of course, a terrible idea. For several years I shunned the man due to that experience, in fact. Recently, however, I read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and now Dubliners and I'm starting to see why people love him so. He's not the kind of writer that will end up on my favorites list, I suspect, but he's moved off of my most hated list as well. I tend to like blasting, emotionally-charged, flowery, intense books- like Edith Wharton, Thomas Hardy, Dostoevsky, and their ilk- so the pleasure that I'm finding in Joyce, which is more of a seeping-in, slowly absorbed pleasure, is quite a change. Rarely do I read in such small chunks but I found that I could only enjoy Dubliners when I read a singe story then let it settle for a while. One of these days I will try Ulysses and then, when I'm feeling brave (and have a guide), Finnegan's Wake. Got to work my way up to them though.

Hell- it turns out that's not on the 1001 list though- and here I thought I was going to get to check one more off. I really should check these things. Not that I wouldn't have read it if I knew or anything, but at least I wouldn't post about it where it's not relevant. Argh.




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9 Graphic Novels

The Touchstone, by Edith Wharton (ironically, the touchstone leads to the wrong book)

hehe... :D

I'm enjoying your list, by the way, Kplatypus. And the little green pig.

I just saw where John Steinbeck used as his personal logo a pig, with wings: Pigasus. It was accompanied by the phrase "to the stars on the wings of a pig"...

Dubliners is on my TBR pile, and then Ulysses if I can get through it. I've heard that Dubliners is better and less "arrogant" (friend's words not mine) than Ulysses so if you get to the novel first, we'll have to compare.

Enjoying your list and reviews, thanks!

Oh dear- It appears that while I've been busily commenting on guide horses and reading boyfriends, I've been neglecting my own thread! Since all I've read are re-reads, though, I don't feel terribly impressed with myself.

M 59- isn't the pig awesome? Glad you're enjoying the list too!

M 60: Seriously? I've always hated Steinbeck but that might make me at least like him as person, if not a writer.

M 61: Definitely! I have a feeling that the law school is going to mean putting all hard-core reading on hold for a while though. I just got a copy of War and Peace too. Hmm. Glad you're enjoying the thread!

As far as my reading goes, I do have three books to add, but, as mentioned above, they're all re-reads. And kid's books, so we're talking done in a few hours. Ah well- books is books, as far as I can tell.

49. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis
50. The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis
51. The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis

Rather than write reviews of each of these, I'd like to say a few words about the series in general: I LOVE the Chronicles of Narnia. As in, I love them to such an extent that thinking about their beauty makes me kind of want to cry. I've had this set since I was very small- it looks like they were published in the seventies and I got them new, so . . .- and must have read it over a hundred times. Easily. My favorites within the series have changed over the years, but my love for the whole set has never flagged.

The Chronicles of Narnia have often been criticized, at least in my circles, in recent years. People accuse them of being overtly religious, of heavy-handed moralizing, of being racist. And you know what? I won't deny it. They are racist, painfully so at times. The religious overtones are pretty obvious to me too, though I missed them as a child. And the morals can be pretty blatant. Guilty as charged.

However, what those people fail to recognize is that The Chronicles of Narnia also offer readers a world full of adventure and glory, that is potentially open to humans, and where nothing truly bad ever happens and stays happened. This is escapist fantasy at its best. If I want realistic fiction, I'll read some of the trendy fatalist authors, plenty of whom I enjoy. But when life is being kind of rough, sometimes I want to just immerse myself in a world where, as Sarah Crewe so aptly put it, "the worst thing never quite comes." Sometimes that means Sarah's world, in A Little Princess, other times it's one of The Prydain Chronicles, and other times it's one of the Chronicles of Narnia.

The beauty of the Narnia books, I think, lies in the fact that you have an assortment of children from Earth, some of whom are picture-perfect but others of whom are a bit more fallible. They cross into a magical land, where they have adventures and, in the process, grow as people in a non-cheesy way. They then return to England, sad to be back, but always hoping for their next trip and sharing memories in the meantime. We as readers can share those memories too, and dream of a day when we too can visit Narnia. It may help to be religious, since you could interpret Aslan's country as heaven (as was intended), but you don't have to be. I myself am an atheist and I can still daydream about exploring Lantern Waste or visiting Cair Paravel.

C. S. Lewis was, for those who didn't know, a theologian. He was also troubled in his faith, and both of these facts come through in his writing. His belief in a loving god is evident, but so are his unorthodox views concerning other religions. In Narnia, he was able to create a world where his doubts could be resolved and he could arrange for the deserving to love happily ever after, while the undeserving just kind of exit stage left. I think the greatest compliment I could give Mr. Lewis is that reading his books makes me wish I could believe again, if only for a moment.

Wow. That ended up being kind of long.




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Kplatypus, your comments were almost as beautiful as the books themselves. I might print them out so I can read them again some time. And I agree with them all wholeheartedly. I wouldn't consider myself an atheist, more as someone who is interested in the various aspects of different religions but not quite believing in any of them (or maybe only parts of different ones) - perhaps more fascinated by the people who do believe in them. If anything I love mythology and polytheism because they always seem to include amazing adventure stories.

I once had quite the argument with my best friend (devote baptist) about the religious analogies involved with the Chronicles and how it is possible to love them simply for the stories. (She was set off when she found out someone had written The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy, and wouldn't accept the idea that philosophy and religion can be synonymous sometimes.)

Once I mentioned to my grandmother that my favorite excerpt from a book ever was the last page of The Last Battle, so for Christmas that year she typed it up and put it in a very nice frame - and I had it on my wall for years. Someday maybe I'll be able to put it in my classroom (add that one to the list of things to look forward to).

I'm glad people still love these stories. BTW, if you like these try Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. It reminds me a lot of the Chronicles of Narnia (especially Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with some LOTR and King Arthur elements thrown in - great adventure/quest story. I loved it!

Wow- I'm flattered and so glad you enjoyed the review! I will be sure to check out Here, There Be Dragons- it sounds fun. I'm really hoping the new Narnia movie will be good, since that increases the odds of them making a movie of Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Hope hope hope.

Speaking of which:

52. Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis
Think I got the review covered already.

53. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

This was a very interesting book. Interesting good, but also interesting weird. I will definitely write a proper review of it but I'm currently on vacation and my boyfriend's parents are waiting for me so we can go have breakfast. Plus, I have to figure out how to write a full review without spoilers. Hmmm. Tricky tricky.

I read some other partial books too, but will post all of that nonsense later. I just felt that I was falling way too far behind and should post some kind of update. No ticker for now, since this is a partial update. Off to pancakes!

So behind! Again! Alas- writing that pays must take precedence over writing that does not. Thus, still no time for proper reviews right now, but I will catch up one of these days. I hope.

54. Thursday Next in First Among Sequels, by Jasper Fforde

More zany good times. Nothing too amazing, but a fun, easy read.

55. The Sisters Grimm: The Fairytale Detectives, by Michael Buckley

I picked this up while on vacation in San Francisco (go Green Apple!) because the cover was pretty, the price was right ($2.50?!), and the concept was cute. Overall, I rather enjoyed this book. The concept was cute and well-realized. I'll be curious to see how the series develops.

56. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I could have sworn this was on the 1001 list. Darn. Overall? Underwhelmed. The book was fine, but I came out of it fairly unmoved. I have a theory about modern literature that I'm going to post one of these days tbu for now, eh. One thing that did really irk me about this book was Mr. McCarthy's completely inappropriate use of fancy-pants vocab. I mean, come on. If you're going to write in a fairly spare tone, don't get all high-falutin' with your silver dollar words. It's just jarring. I know what the words mean, and no. Doesn't work. Didn't always make sense either, but that's another issue entirely.



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just read a Sisters Grimm book, the 2nd or 3rd, imaginative, enjoyable, and fast-paced... so now I need to go back and at least read the start of it all...

Definitely interested in your Mod Lit treatise; I loved The Road, was totally gripped, now I have to put it back on the list for a re-read...

So one bad review and one good review...good thing I only spent $1 on The Road at the booksale! Not that I'm going to have the time to read it in the near future. I have one month to study enough to get a good score on my GRE so I think my reading pace is going to slow down a bit.

btw, I know we already talked about the Narnia books, and I've read them many times...but in light of the new movie I decided to listen to Prince Caspian. I'm not really enthused that they have a woman narrating it, since most of the characters are male - and she makes Susan and Lucy sound really pathetic and simpering - but I always forget how much I truly love these stories until I read/listen to them again.

Funny, I just remembered that when I was in high school I was actually reading them out loud to my boyfriend (bonding ritual of sorts).

Anway, I got a bit sidetracked... Sounds like your list is going well, I'm still enjoying it! I know what you mean about not having the time to write on it. I make it a point to post the book as read as soon as I finish it, but the reviews are often late or never.

Interesting comments about The Road. I agree that the occasional polysyllabic words were jarring. However, he won me over with the phrase "intestate earth" to describe the post-apocalyptic country. It can mean both "dead, with no one to inherit", and also be treated as a default, original state of things. I was practically sold on the whole book with that one phrase - but I guess I'm an estate planning nerd. :)

I'm interested in your theory on modern literature.

Still no time to say anything of substance, but I finished my paid writing gigs last night, so hopefully soon! The reading, however, continues:

57. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

Fabulous. I think my modern lit treatise/diatribe/rant/who knows may compare the last three grown-up modern books I've read- Never Let Me Go, The Road, and Geek Love. It's percolating. People will almost certainly disagree. But . . . there's something there. Sigh. Time for work.

M 67: Good luck on the GRE- I teach test prep for a job, so I'm all too familiar with that beast of a test. And I'm looking forward to/crossing my fingers about the new Prince Caspian movie. It needs to be good so that they can make and do a really good job on Voyage of the Dawn Trader!

M 66 and 68- You both raise interesting points, regarding how different people view different books. Hopefully, I'll make it as far as my synthesis today, so I can address that.

58. The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

Again, fabulous. I seem to have a few minutes to myself just now, so I'm going to at least attempt to catch up, review-wise. Let's see . . Ah yes.

Never Let Me Go. I'd like to follow in the footsteps of so many others here, and avoid giving any kind of plot synopsis, since I do agree that the book works better the less you know going in. I liked this book, but it left me feeling a bit . . . blah. The style of writing worked well with the characters and concept, but it left me not caring all that much about anyone in the book. Don't get me wrong- the story itself is very moving, but somehow, I couldn't ever quite forget that it was just a book. For example, I noticed that the author/publisher had chosen to use an usual font. The choice worked, and was interesting, but I found myself drifting back to thinking 'what an unusual font choice' during the book. A few scenes were really beautiful, and moved beyond that barrier- the ones relating to the cassette, in general, did that for me- but, as a whole, I felt like something was just missing. Like this could have been an amazing book, if it just had that one more thing. The same feeling as you get when you're cooking, and you can tell that the sauce would be perfect if you could just figure out one last spice that it needs. You know?

The Road. Oh, The Road. First, I have to admit that spare writing is not typically my style. I'm more of a Hawthorne girl than a Hemingway one. That said, I'm certainly capable of appreciating Hemingway nonetheless, so I don't think that was a major problem. Still, I opened the book and my first thought was- shoot. It's that faux-Western spare prose style. But I carried on.

There's been some kind of nuclear (?) holocaust, and the world as we know it is gone. Houses have been abandoned, cities have fallen into ruin, and the few survivors have either joined roving bands of cannibalistic opportunists or found hiding places. A father and his son begin a journey, hoping to find safety and shelter at the end, in a world where hope is almost dead.

That's The Road, basically. Sounds cool, right? Post-apocalypse stuff is right up my alley, so once I figured out that that was the situation, I was ready for good times. My problem with the book is that, even though the father is totally paranoid, and convinced that something is going to happen, the worst never quite happens. In a book like The Little Princess, that works. Here, it always felt kind of contrived, to me, when they made some wonderful discovery that would allow them to continue. That made the book really predictable, or more predictable, since I could tell how it was probably going to end from pretty early. So, as far as the story goes, I felt like it was a good, if standard idea, that didn't have any new twists to make it fresh.

The characters, I suspect, or their relationship, is what other readers love so much. The whole father-son dynamic. I'm not a parent, so the 'I must fight and kill to protect my little one' urge isn't as much of a draw for me. A truly great book, IMO, would have made that situation just as compelling for me as for anyone else, but this book failed to do so. I felt bad for them guys, but they failed to come alive for me.

And then there was the vocabulary. I am a hardcore fan of supervocab. Seriously. I've tried to bring the word 'hubris' back into the conversational lexicon more times that I can count. Usually, I love it when author's throw in some crazy words, either to challenge me or let me say 'ha ha, I knew that one!' The style of this book, however, just really didn't work with the words. As I recall, there was a line about the 'autistic night' and, as I was reading, I thought, wtf? Autistic night? Seriously? Every time one of the words popped up, it stopped me in my tracks, since it felt so out of place. Most of the words were used correctly, as far as definitions go (though there were a few choices with which I disagreed), but stylistically they were all wrong. Right now I'm really wishing I had a copy of the book in front of me, since that would make this a lot clearer, but I already returned it to the library. Alas.

So yeah. I didn't think this book was terrible of anything, and I can see why some people would really enjoy it, but I don't think it is a 'great book.' Ie I don't think it will stand the test of time or be passed down as classic literature. One phrase kind of sums up my feelings on both books, and is the linchpin of my modern lit theory: all style and no substance. Which is a shame, since I think both books could have been a lot better if the author had spent a little less time on how cool the style was and a little bit more time making the characters come to life.

Geek Love, in comparison, was amazing. I had just been complaining to my beloved about my lack of emotional involvement in any of my recent books, decrying either modern writing or my own benumbed sensitivity. After closing The Road, I picked up Geek Love solely because it was on hold for someone else at the library and thus had to returned within the week. Within the first few pages, I was hooked. That spice that was missing from the other two books was here in plenty.

Olympia Binewski, aka Hopalong McGurk, is an albino hunchback dwarf, and she is narrates your way as you follow the Binewski family from its humble beginnings to its cataclysmic end (don't worry, this is evident pretty quickly so I don't think it's much of a spoiler). Along the way you get to know Arturo, or AquaMan, the flipper boy megalomaniac with a sever self-esteem problem; Iphy and Elly, the siamese twins, joined at waist, who play piano, sing, and try to find a way into adulthood while literally joined at the hip; Chick, the youngest Binewski, who appears to be normal but seems to be somehow more than he appears; Crystal Lil, the mother who dedicated her life to producing her Rose Garden of circus freaks and has ended up a hopeless addict, due to the treatments her husband Al gave her; and all the rest of the staff, including Horst the Cat Man, the Redheads, the various geeks, and all the other characters you expect to find in a side show. And that's just the backstory. Woven around this frame is a story told in the present, after all the carnival days have ended, and Oly has transformed herself into Hopalong McGurk. As she tries to get by in a world where she truly is a freak, she finds herself involved in yet another circle of freakishness, only this time she's not just the errand girl.

The story itself is fascinating enough to draw plenty of readers, but Ms. Dunn also brings the characters to full 3-dimensional life. You can picture Oly, with her wig and glasses, or Arty in his greasepaint. When bad things happen, and they do, you feel for the family, even as you sometimes hate them for their decisions. Every character is drawn as a deeply flawed human, with good characteristics balanced by grievous character flaws. The writing was of the sort that ends up merging with the images it creates, so that it's less like reading than like living amongst the characters.

All that said, this is obviously not a book for everyone. It's sometimes graphic depictions of a life outside of mainstream society would no doubt offend many readers. This is a sideshow, and in sideshow people do really nasty stuff. I once dated a sideshow freak, and in the course of the relationship met a number of geeks, pinheads, firebreathers, hairy ladies, and so on, some of them rather well-known, so this life is fairly familiar to me. I still find it deeply disturbing at times, but at least I'm not shocked. Others will be, if they realize that most of what Ms. Dunn described as happening at a carnival is fairly accurate.

The Book Of Lost Things was also a deeply disturbing, very creepy, and excellent book. I somehow went into this thinking it was a children's book, and so was really surprised when various events took place that made it abundantly clear that this was not the case.

After David's mother dies, David's world becomes less and less substantial. He hears books talking to him, and has fits during which he sees glimpses of another world. When his father remarries and has a new baby, David has to move out to his new stepmother's house in the country, where things get progressively stranger and stranger until, one night, he follows a voice that sounds like his mother's and finds himself in a world that is completely alien and yet weirdly familiar.

Part fairytale-retelling, part-coming of age novel, The Book of Lost Things follows David as he tries to find his mother, the king, or the way home, learning how to be a man along the way. He learns to give trust where it has been earned, to fight when he must, and to accept that not all stories have happy endings. Highly recommended.

Hmm. That ended up getting really long, so I'm going to pause before writing up my conclusion. Plus, that gives me some time to think about what I want to say.



4/15+ 1001 books
14/30 atypical-for-me books
6/30 non-fiction
9 Graphic Novels

ETA my little piggy

According to IMDB, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is already in preproduction, set to come out in 2010!! And they've snagged all the same Pevensie actors back and Caspian...woohoo!

I loved your reviews in post 70. I''l certainly be reading Geek love and The book of lost things in the near future.

M 71: Woot! So exciting! Thanks for the info!

M 72: I'm so glad you enjoyed the reviews and hope you enjoy the books as much as I did!

59. Bloodsucking Fiends, by Christopher Moore

Once upon a time, I was obsessed with vampires. And I do mean obsessed, on the level of reading every single book in my local library with 'vampire' anywhere on the index card (less impressive than it sounds, considering the size of said library), waiting in line for three hours for an Anne Rice signing, and writing a ridiculous amount of vampire-inspired (and truly dreadful) prose and poetry. I was, obviously, also a super-spooky goth chick at the time. I mention all of this to explain why friends and foes often recommend vampire-related lit to me. This obsession died a much-needed death a number of years ago, so I usually disregard such suggestions. One of my friends, however, basically forced You Suck, also by Christopher Moore on me after I forced Lamb, by the same author, on him. Someone here on LT mentioned that You Suck was a sequel to the book Bloodsucking Fiends and that the latter was actually a better book.

And that is the story of how I came to read a rather delightful romp through the realms of the undead. Jody is a kind of obnoxious yuppie living in San Francisco when a vampire decides to turn her. He does this every so often, in order to while away the centuries, you see. She turns out to be a much more formidable vampire than he had expected however, finding herself a minion almost immediately, and hilarity of course ensues. Tommy, her new-found minion, was a naive would-be writer in Indiana until a few days prior to his meeting with Jody, which explains some of his particularly absurd behavior, like giving money to the myriad homeless denizens of the city. Throw in the Animals (the night crew at the Marina Safeway where Tommy works), the Emperor of San Francisco (based, roughly, on a real person from the 19th century- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_A._Norton), and a deplorable lack of vampiric how-to books, and settle in to enjoy the show.

Brilliant literature? Well, no. We're talking about a book about modern day, somewhat incompetent, vampires in the Bay Area. Come on. It is, however, good for a laugh or two or three, and was good enough to launch me immediately into its sequel, which I am greatly enjoying for reasons I will delve into in that review.



4/15+ 1001 books
14/30 atypical-for-me books
6/30 non-fiction
9 Graphic Novels

In related thoughts, I'm a bit distressed, due to having fallen behind on my challenge progress. I now only have four months, give or take, to read 90 books. Eep! I have also finalized my plans to move back to San Francisco (which also made Bloodsucking Fiends extra fun) in a mere 6 weeks. Double eep! Still, tally ho and keep a stiff upper lip and all that- must soldier on!

And less then 24 hours later,

60. You Suck, by Christopher Moore

Yes, I enjoyed the sequel enough to power through it already. The story picks up right where Bloodsucking Fiends left off, literally. All your favorite characters are back, but several new ones join in the fun. There's Blue, a dyed-blue hooker that the Animals picked up in Vegas, who dreams of leaving the business; Abby aka Allison, an angst-ridden yet incorrigibly perky goth chick that Tommy decides will make an excellent minion; Jared, Abby's gay (and creepy) companion in the vale of shadows that are SF's night clubs; and several more. Obviously, hijinks are in order.

ATTENTION: If you are, or ever were, a spooky person, and take your spookiness seriously, do not read this book, for fear of mortal offense. If, on the other hand, you are/were spooky but are aware of how ridiculous you are/were, go get this book now. Oh, sweet fanny adams. Mr. Moore has clearly done some solid research on the goth scene, because his portrayal of goths in SF was spot on, and I know what I'm talking about here. All my old haunts were parodied brilliantly and I felt compelled to read particularly clever bits aloud to my boyfriend with some regularity. For someone not into, or not knowledgeable about, the goth scene, this might be less hysterical, but for me, it was a laugh riot.

The story itself is standard comedic stuff- nothing too amazing. I feel like Moore got his really interesting ideas about vampire fiction covered in the first book, and spent his time here more on parodying goths, dorks, and teenagers. I might have to buy my own copy of this eventually, if only to flip to the best parts from time to time. And I really want one of Steve's UV coats, to wear once I move back to SF and once again frequent the Glas Kat, where I like to hover near the door smoking cloves. (All in the book and all too true.) Bwahahaha.

To finish off my Christopher Moore jag:

61. A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore

I hadn't been planning to read this next, but one of the bonuses at the back of You Suck demonstrated how the books tied in with each other, which caused me to feel compelled to read this last one.

Charlie Asher is a typical San Francisco beta-male until the birth of his daughter. Shortly after that joyous event, his life starts going off the rails, over the hills, through the woods, and into the Bay. While he struggles to figure out what's happened to his life, while raising his daughter and running his family's second-hand shop, people (and sometimes animals) start dying all around him, generally in normal ways, but always leaving behind a glowing red object . . .

On the one hand, I think this story was better than You Suck, in that it was inventive and well-thought out through to the end, while the vampires got a little bit less fresh towards the end. On the other hand, it was really predictable (not that You Suck wasn't, but this really really was. Like from page 1 practically.) and its themes were less personally amusing for me. In some ways I think it is a better book- I was browsing some of the other reviews of You Suck and noticed several people lamenting the lack of Moore's usual heartfeltness in that book. This is true- in the other books of his that I've read (Lamb and now A Dirty Job) and I hear in many others, he's funny but not in a mean way. Those stories both have some really touching aspects, that are legitimately moving in a non-cheesy way. This is not the case in the vampire books. They're more mean-funny. But I digress.

My point is, I think that, removing my personal attachment to the vampire books' themes, A Dirty Job is a better, if predictable book. I missed the laugh-out-loud moments that his preposterous goths and vampires provided, though Lily helped a little bit. I should probably add that there are some serious racial stereotypes in here, for those that are offended by such things.

62. Songs for the Missing, by Stewart O'Nan

This book was an advance review copy, from Barnes and Nobles First look program. The touchstones don't appear to be up yet, probably because the book will not be released until November 3, 2008.

Although I do not think that my review reveals any major plot points not made evident by the back synopsis, purists may feel differently and are hereby forewarned: possible spoilers ahead. My other book blog, found at this location will hide them behind a cut, for anyone concerned.

Kim Larsen is a typical teenager, treading water during the final summer months between high school and college. Hanging out with friends, drinking, dating, going to the beach, and working swing shift at a local gas station- just enjoying a normal Midwestern youth. Until, one day, she disappears.

The bulk of the book takes place after Kim's disappearance, following her family and friends as they go through the various stages of loss- anger, denial, depression, mania, and regret. Although Kim is only an active character for the first fourteen pages, her presence haunts all of the character in different ways, affecting their lives long after the living person is gone. One of the things that I really liked about the book was the way that the action really fit the progression of time. The days immediately following Kim's disappearance are meticulously described, with all the frenetic hope coming through the writing. As time progresses, and the search begins to stagnate, events are only described as they relate to the plot. Things slow down, and the book loses its manic edge, mirroring the family's unwilling acceptance of reality. In operas, good composers create music that mirrors the tone of the storyline; Mr. O'Nan has done the same with his writing in this book.

When I read the summary of this book, my first thought was "Pass." I'm not big on heartwarming tales, or stories of loss and redemption. Then, because it was free and I am a poor book addict, I gave it another look and decided it might be okay. I then promptly forgot all about it until it arrived in the mail. I dutifully set aside my three in-progress books and began this one. By the third page, I was hooked.

This book could easily have been maudlin, or coldly cynical, but it was neither. The real strength of the book lies in the author's portrayals of the family members, that are so realistic that you can imagine each member quite vividly. Little details, like a person's preferred brand of cigarettes, or the small of the Dairy Queen, help bring the small town where the bulk of the book takes place to life. Each character feels fleshed out, and their grief comes through as real. Going along with the depth of the characters is the depiction of grief. Having experienced the unexpected loss of a loved one, I recognized so many of the stages that my family went through, as each person learns how to grieve in his or her own way, and the various family members try to respect the different ways people have of coping, with varying success.

Lest I sound too rhapsodic, I will mention a few things I disliked. Kim's friends kind of drift in and out of the story, and there's not a lot of resolution regarding them. I think that was largely intentional, as the book shows the reality of the loss shifting from the community at large, to the circle of friends, to, finally, just the family. however, that did mean there were some loose ends that I would have liked the author to clarify. Again, I think this was a conscious choice on the part of the author, but a bit more info would have been nice. Also, although the pop culture references worked in general, they do also date the book in sometimes strange ways. The characters seem, by and large, reasonably tech-savvy, which made me keep wondering why they couldn't use (or at least discuss) more fancypants forensics. Maybe that's just me watching too much CSI, but it did strike me as odd.

All in all, however, I was very pleasantly surprised by what was a highly insightful look at family grief, combined with a gripping story and sympathetic, flawed, human characters. An excellent read.

Lately I've had a fair amount of paid writing work, which means that my unpaid writing has had to take a backseat because, well, I'm poor. My current assignment has a deadline a whole week and a half away though, so I've decided to take the night off to watch CSI and catch up a bit online. I've been doing a fair amount of reading still, working my way somewhat slowly through Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Haruki Murakami's Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and a few other books that I've been working my way through so slowly as to be making virtually no progress. It's not that I don't like these books; I actually do rather like all of them. They're just very mood-specific books and I haven't been in the mood. You know how it goes. Anyway. I posted some thoughts on these books on my full journal but here I'll wait until I can write a real review.

The one book that I did finish recently was Nuns: A History of Convent Life by Silvia Evangelisti. I picked this up off the new release shelves at the library, based on my general fascination with religious vocations. The book focuses on the development of female religious orders during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counterreformation. Although the book had clearly been meticulously researched, I came out of it not much more knowledgeable than I was went I went in, and without a clear idea of what this author was trying to acheive. On the one hand, the author seemed to assume a basic knowledge of religious orders on the part of the reader; what kind of different groups exist, who some of the main saints are, etc. That seemed reasonable enough, since a completely uninformed lay person is probably less likely to pick up a book like this. On the other hand, she would explain other things in detail, such as the daily routine of a typical nunnery. Things that someone knowledgeable about nuns would know.

The other thing that kind of annoyed me about this book was the way that Ms. Evangelisti basically dismissed anything that would make the Church look bad. Sure, she mentioned things like abusive confessors and families that forced daughters into convents, but she mentioned them in passing, without really addressing the underlying complaints. I get the feeling that Ms. Evangelisti is a really big fan of the Church. That's fine, but it makes this book far from unbiased. There's a lot more to this story than this book addressed, and I think it would have been a much better book if that information had been included. Basically, I felt like this would be a good book for a nice Catholic girl to read if she wanted to learn a little bit more about nuns, but not about the darker side of the convent. As for me, I was disappointed.

Edited to Add:
Current Reading Total As of 5/21/08



63/150 Books total
4/15+ 1001 books
14/30 atypical-for-me books
7/30 non-fiction
9 Graphic Novels

64. Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami

In Tokyo, a data processor in his thirties finds himself involved in some kind of mind-altering experiment that involves underground laboratories, jolly yet disturbing scientists, chubby young women in pink, and literal information wars. In the Town, a stranger arrives and is told that he is the dreamreader, destined to read old dreams at night while he watches the comings and going of the unicorns during the day. Each character struggles to understand what has happened, is happening, and is going to happen, as the reader tries to do the same. The Tokyo chapters read like a cyberpunk novel, with elements of hardboiled detective fiction mixed in, while the Town chapters read more like Kafka, yet both play off of each other. Reality for these men is revealed as far less concrete than they once thought, leading the readers to wonder how certain we are of our own everyday assumptions.

As I mentioned before, I came across this book somewhere, though I've forgotten where, and once I mentioned that I was planning to read it, was inundated with fierce opinions from both camps. Some praised it as the new frontier of modern literature, taking cyberpunk to new levels, and claiming that it epitomized the ascendance of fresh, invigorating Japanese literature over musty, decadent Western writing. Others mocked it for trying too hard to be hip, for being all style and no substance, and for being an amalgam of other, better literature, not something unique at all. Now that I've finished the book, both sides have some valid points. Murakami does indeed take diverse elements of other books, but he also melds them into something original. Yes, it did remind me of other books, but what book doesn't? It is distinctly Japanese at times, which I do not consider a point either in its favor, or against it. It's chock-full of references, which I enjoy. One of the thigns I often miss about modern books is the tendency to avoid any references that might go over the heads of the readers or make the author look less than cutting edge. Hardboiled Wonderland, however, had references to everything from Stendhal to Duran Duran. I liked that.

One of my gripes with the whole cyberpunk genre is the tendency of many authors to get kind of crazy with the pseudo-scientific rambling, and Murakami is no exception to this. I zoned out repeatedly during the scientist's explanation of his zany theories, without it interfering with my comprehension of the plot. I'm not a science person, at all, so maybe some of this would make more sense to someone with that background, but I persevere in calling it psuedo-science since, last I checked, we couldn't do this stuff. And no, I really don't think it was necessary to the book, but yes, it was very hip and trendy.

The strength of the book, for me, was the development of the characters. We know very little about them, outside of what is relevant to the plot, but we're given enough little details for them to be fully fleshed out nonetheless, so that their struggles and successes actually mean something. Also, the story itself was interesting. Murakami did a nice job of adding new twists to both the cyberpunk and Kafkaesque tropes with this one. I haven't read any of his other books, so I can't speak to them, but Hardboiled Wonderland was a well-written, completely readable book. It might even last for a while, on the merit of its interesting structure combined with actual readability. A lovely line from the end of the book sums it up nicely: Maybe it's not a spectacular novel, but it's very readable. Better that then the other way around."

Oh, that sounds like something to add to my list. Thanks for the great review!

>77 Kplatypus:: Have you read Virgins of Venice by Mary Lavan? I'm not a student of religious vocations by any means (or a Catholic), but I read it earlier this year and thought it was very good. It's about nuns in Venice during the 16th-17th centuries. Lavan discusses at length the corruption in the convents and the women who were forced by their families to enter the convents, but I didn't feel that she was anti-Church.

M 79: I hope you enjoy it- let me know if you do end up reading it!

M 80: No, but it sounds great- I put it on hold at the library as soon as I read your suggestion and it's ready for me to pick up next week. Looks good.

In the real world, I have once again been consumed by work, though my reading continues. I currently have 35 minutes to eat, shower, and post online, so no real reviews for the moment, but I didn't want to get any farther behind. You know it has been too long since your last post when you have to pull up your reading list and compare it to your last post, to see how many books behind you've managed to become. I am there. The poisons of LT also seem to be seeping into my skin, no doubt via the keyboard, as I have been experiencing a compulsion to buy new books for the last few weeks, and have actually given in and ordered 3 online, not to mention 3 more from the store. Or was it 4 online? Hell- I'm losing control already.

Okay, here are the books:

65. The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde

Related to the Thursday Next books, the Nursery Crime series (of which this is the first) follow Detective Jack Spratt and Mary Mary as they attempt to solve nursery-related crimes. Part detective novel, part humor, this was reasonably fun. Look for a better review on my other journal, someday, I hope. I'll post here if it happens.

66. The Fourth Bear, by Jasper Fforde

This is the second in the Nursery Crime series. It had some quite funny moments, and some really self-consciously bad ones. Not as good as the first, and possibly my last foray into the series.

67. Beyond the Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

This, on the other hand, was really good. It continues the story told in The Chocolate War, reviewed back in message 56, and is similar in tone, style, etc. An unrelenting, unflinching look at high school, this book is an excellent look at the way some high school students look at the world. A more in-depth review is definitely forthcoming, eventually, because this book deserves it. But not today, alas.

That brings me to 67/150 with 2 and a half months until the start of school. If I hustle, I just might make it.

Currently reading: An American Tragedy, still; and The Courtier and the Heretic.

68. The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald Stern

As part of my pre-law school preparation, I read through a bunch of syllabi a while back and discovered that several first year classes assign this book. Since it's a mainstream book, I thought it would be a good chance for me to delve into legal reading without getting completely lost.* Turns out, this was an excellent plan.

In February, 1972, the dams on Buffalo Creek burst, flooding the valley below. Over 100 people were killed instantly, not to mention the 1000+ that were physically wounded and the thousands more that lost everything they owned, incurring emotional and psychological damage along the way.

The local coal mining company called it an "act of God," blaming the collapse on heavy rains and, basically, bad luck. They offered some meager settlements for the survivors, most (if not all) of whom were connected in some way with the coal mines. These were poor people, mainly uneducated, and suddenly homeless. In previous such disasters, the people often agreed to the terms offered by the company, preferring an attempt to return to normalcy over a long, ugly fight with a powerful organization. This time, however, with the death toll so high and so little left to lose, they decided to fight.

Gerald Stern was the lead attorney in the lawsuit that the citizens of Buffalo Creek brought against the Pittston Company, and this book is his story of how they took on a corporate giant and, against all the odds, won. Filled with legal details and procedural notes, it still manages to be an engrossing account- a page-turner, even. The stories of the disaster, as told by the survivors, made my stomach clench. I complain about corporate America all the time, but the magnitude of the wanton disregard shown by this company is even to make anyone furious.

For anyone at all interested in our legal system, or corporate responsibility, or even the history of labor, this is a must-read book. Don't be fazed by the legal aspect- I may have a stated interest in the field but I have very little background knowledge and I had no trouble understanding it. It can be very depressing, even knowing the outcome, though. Every few pages I would remember that this was all true, and that people had lived through this disaster a mere thirty years ago, and I would be stunned all over again. Very powerful. Although I will probably still have to work in corporate law for a while, in order to pay off my school loans, it's books like this that made me want to enter the legal arena, and cases like this that make me want to practice the law.




68/150 Books total
4/15+ 1001 books
15/30 atypical-for-me books
8/30 non-fiction
9 Graphic Novels

69. North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell

Margaret Hale, daughter of a country curate driven by a struggle of conscience into giving up his living and moving to a Northern manufacturing town where he takes on work as a tutor, features as the unusual heroine of this novel that combines aspects of a typical Victorian romance with a critique of the labor system of nineteenth century England. The story follows Margaret as she returns home from living with her well-to-do relatives only to learn of her father's decision to relocate, a decision that has far-reaching consequences for all members of the family.

Margaret is an atypical heroine in that, while she does take on all of the womanly duties expected of middle-class daughters at that time, she also comments, at least to herself, on how fatiguing they are, and the reader gets a distinct sense of the frequent unfairness of her position. In other such novels, the heroines are more likely to submit to these duties without a murmur, if they're "good" characters, or complain unceasingly, if they're "bad" characters. Margaret's private weariness is much more believable and sympathetic, allowing the reader to understand her actions more clearly than is often the case. She also has her failings, some of which are very real, which is also less common in Victorian romances. All in all, she's more real, and more alive, than your usual maidenly, pure, and unearthly Victorian protagonist.

This is not to say that she doesn't indulge in some preposterously moralistic speeches, because she most definitely does. Some of her little declarations regarding God and truth made me roll my eyes. Still, considering the era in which this was written, I allow for a certain amount of slack in such matters.

For anyone who has read Austen, much will be familiar in this book. In some ways, the romance aspect of the book is very reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, but with less dancing. Other parts, however, reminded me more of a less romanticized version of Dickens's Hard Times, which I only recently read. The working class in this book is not kept belowstairs; in fact, at least one working class character is even invited in to tea with the old curate, a plot device that readers of Victorian class novels will notice with surprise. There were numerous discussions of why workers strike, what the living conditions of the working class were really like, and what kind of people the workers were. In that sense, this could also be called a social consciousness novel, as the reader is made to understand that these are subjects that the author has thought about often, and believes the reader should think upon as well.

As a random novel, North and South succeeds as a reasonably interesting (if highly predictable) romance, and an interesting look at British class interactions during the nineteenth century. The strength of the novel, however, is that it combines those two usually (at that time) distinct areas, and does so in a way that doesn't usually feel contrived. All too often the working classes and their problems are used only as a set piece against which the "important" (ie monied) characters act out their parts. Here, however, those working characters play an integral part in the action and are ultimately acknowledged as real people by at least some of the wealthier characters.

Just as Austen's books are interesting for their insights regarding the society that she inhabited, so too is this book worth reading for its insights into class relations during this era. Unfortunately, Gaskell's skills as a writer, although solid, are not at Austens' level, making this somewhat less enjoyable from a purely aesthetic standpoint. If it weren't for the class observations so nicely intertwined with the romance and family analysis, this would be a fine if unremarkable book. The way that the plot is developed, however, makes this an excellent book for anyone interested in getting a less idealized version of what life might have been like for a middle-class woman in early nineteenth century England.



69/150 Books total
5/15+ 1001 books
15/30 atypical-for-me books
8/30 non-fiction
9 Graphic Novels

And now I have a major dilemma. I'm still working my way through An American Tragedy and The Courtier and the Heretic, but a new book came in the mail today (The Years of Rice and Salt), I bought another new book last weekend, when I bought the above-reviewed book (The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs), AND I just picked up two holds from the library (The Virgins of Venice and Pirate Freedom). And that's not even mentioning the other books that I've had out from the library for a year and a day (After the Quake, The Turn of the Screw, and The Double) or The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which I never finished, not because I didn't like it but because such a big book made up largely of pictures is hard to read sitting on the stoop smoking. And that's also not mentioning the ARCs coming in the mail (I think I'm up to at least four that should be arriving any day) or the other book I bought online that I expect within the next few days. I think the insidious influence of LT is beginning to take effect! And I'm moving in less than two weeks! And using too many exclamation points! Oh dear.

Wow--The Buffalo Creek Disaster looks like a great book. None of my 1L classes featured anything that exciting. :(

My 1L contract curriculum included Son of Laughter. Only tenuously connected to contracts material, but not a bad read. We also watched A Man for All Seasons, that was good too.

M 84: Yeah- I really liked it. I guess I should be glad that my school-to-be is exciting enough to include such things on the syllabus.

M 85: That looks interesting. Looks more related to religion than law, but I like both so I'll be sure to check it out!

Once again, I am terribly behind and once again I do not have time to write proper reviews right now. Nor will I have time for a while, as I am hitting the road on Wednesday, driving from NYC to SF, CA. While I intend to do some reading on the road (and downloaded several books on tape to listen to in the car), my internet access is likely to be sporadic at best. Hopefully once I settle into a new place I'll have more time to get caught up on here, with my correspondence (which has been sadly neglected), and with my sleep. One can dream . . . Bookwise, the count as of today is:

70. Pirate Freedom, by Gene Wolfe
71. The Gypsy Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
72. The Invisibles: So You Say You Want a Revolution, by Grant Morrison and others

Pirate Freedom was okay, but not as good as I had hoped. The combination of priests, pirates, and time travel seemed like a great idea but the execution was a bit lacking. That's the thing with Gene Wolf- when he's on, he's on, but when he's off, he's just really, really weird.

I remembered loving The Egypt Game when I was young, so when I saw The Gypsy Game by the same author at the library book sale, I grabbed it. Turns out I had read this too. Oh well. It's fun, though not as great as I remember The Egypt Game being, but then I haven't read that in almost twenty years. I did pick a copy up recently though, so I'll have to give it a look soon.

I started reading The Invisibles: So You Say You Want a Revolution a while back and then totally forgot about it. I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, based on the various recommendations I had heard. Still, it was interesting and I'd like to 1) reread it when I can pay more attention and 2) eventually check out the rest of the series.

I'm still working through An American Tragedy- bought my own copy so that I can return the library one before I leave- and The Courtier and the Heretic, plus I started The Virgins of Venice a couple of days ago. I should finish the last tonight, and I'm planning to power through as much of the other library books as possible. Sadly, I just started Kafka on the Shore too, but will clearly not be able to finish it before Tuesday, given the other books in progress and my need to, say, finish packing. Alas. I'll just have to reinstate my SF library card and check it back out when I get there.

Why, yes, I am still alive! My cross-country move has been completed and I am now settled in my new home in San Francisco. For those who are wondering, yes, I have been to the Green Apple a number of times. In fact, I live WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE. Oh yes.

Anyway, all of my crazy gallivanting kind of got in the way of my reading plans, but I arrived in CA only to find that seven arcs had preceded me, so I've been trying to read like a busy beaver would read if it had the mental capacity, in an attempt to catch up asap. So far, I only have one more completed, but hopefully more will join the list soon. All of those books from the previous post? On hold. All of the books I wanted to review more thoroughly? On hold, but hopefully not for too long. Anyway.

73. The White Mary by Kira Salak

This is an ARC I received through Shelf-Awareness.

Marika Vecera is a 32 year old war journalist who finds what fulfillment she feels through her job, not through relationships. In fact, her most intimate relationship seems to be with a man she doesn't even know: Robert Lewis, the famous journalist who inspired her to choose the career path she did. Between her emotional scars, which she tries to keep buried as deeply as possible, and her job, which requires her to travel to extremely dangerous locations on a regular basis, it has always just seemed easier to be alone.

Then she meets Seb, a Boston psychology student who wants her to talk about her past and to build a lasting relationship. At the same time, she learns that Robert Lewis has committed suicide in Malaysia. Deciding to write Lewis's biography, she buries herself in her relationship and research and, for a while, seems happy and stable. Then, while doing some final research, she finds a letter claiming that Lewis might still be alive somewhere in Papua New Guinea. Torn, Marika has to choose which path to take- whether she should (or even can) try to find stability with Seb or chase after a dream in the jungle. Journalist that she is, she can't resist the lure of a story, no matter how deeply she must enter the jungle to find it.

The White Mary is actually a lot less of a romance than my summary (or the other summaries I've read) make it sound, but somehow that's the way it comes out. In truth, this book spends the bulk of its time describing Marika's travels to war-torn countries, both past and present, and the harrowing experiences she has in those places. The story line jumps back and forth, between the present-day, when she's in Papua New Guinea, the recent past, when she's trying to have a relationship with Seb, and the more distant past, when she went on other foreign assignments. It's not actually hard to follow in the least, but it is hard to explain.

The strengths of this book are the descriptions of Marika's adventures. The author does a great job of expressing to the reader the utter foreignness of some countries, and the way in which the rules we all take for granted simply don't apply. I think some readers might assume that everything Ms. Salak describes is fantasy, but, having traveled in some pretty out-of-the-way places myself, I didn't find the scenarios she describes implausible. I would hope that others will read this, if only to get a sense of what really is happening in so many parts of the world, a sense that I fear most people in the Western world lack.

The weak point of the book is definitely the romantic part. The writer is clearly an experienced writer, but it feels like she isn't used to writing fiction, especially of a romantic nature, and many of the scenes between Marika and Seb come out sounding really false. Seb is, I think, supposed to be a really amazing guy, but he struck me as two-dimensional, and my main reaction was to want to slap him really hard, just to see his Buddha-like response. Maybe I'm a cynic, but he seemed so 'perfect' as to be infuriating.

In the end, although the relationship did give the author a way to analyze Marika's psyche, I wish she had chosen another way, since for me it detracted from the rest of the book. In future books, however, one can hope that this promising writer will sort out those kinks and improve her fiction writing, especially in the field of romance, while keeping her passion regarding her subject matter.

74. Superdove: How Pigeons Took Manhattan . . . and the World by Courtney Humphries

As a sometime New Yorker, I have a long-standing relationship with the pigeon. In my last apartment in Queens, a family of pigeons had even nested in the airshaft of my building, using my air conditioner as a ledge upon which to build the ultimate pigeon suburban home. I've also had pigeon poo rain on me from above, so I like to think that I've seen a pretty wide spectrum of pigeon behavior. Still, it never occurred to me that there was a whole history behind these less-than-majestic creatures until a non-fiction history of the pigeon entered my life and changed my whole perspective on my winged neighbors.

Ms. Humphries' book took a somewhat different tack than my first pigeon book, choosing to focus on the science of the pigeon a bit more, and the fancying of the pigeon somewhat less. For someone looking to get a more zoological perspective, I suspect that this would be appreciated but for me, non-science person that I am, it was a bit disappointing. This is not to say that the science was not well-written. In fact, Ms. Humphries did an excellent job of making the connections between her pigeon-subjects and her scientific observations understandable, and I quite enjoyed her discussion of Darwin and his unexpected development of love for the pigeon. She also explained how pigeons relate to doves, how feral pigeons relate to wild pigeons, and how we interact with pigeons in our cities. It is, in fact, an expansive book, containing a rather vast quantity of data in a mere 272 pages.

This very vastness was actually one of my mild quibbles though, since it sometimes felt like Ms. Humphries was taking me on a whirlwind tour of the pigeon world and didn't want to leave anything out, even in the interest of time. For me, it would have been nice if she had gone a little bit more in-depth with some of her topics (like the Pigeon People and their movements), even if that meant leaving something else out. At times the book was also very funny, and I found myself wishing she had let that humor loose a bit more often, since I felt that it only added to the book.

Ultimately, Superdove would be an excellent book for someone looking to get a basic overview of pigeons in the context of their relationship with humans in the modern world. The history prior to the modern era was fairly brief but she did provide a chapter-by-chapter bibliography for any budding ornithologists. Also, any New Yorker (or resident of any other major city, really- the pigeon poo first struck me in Florence, Italy) might find themselves feeling a bit more benevolent towards our "rats with wings" after learning a bit more about the lowly, yet quite fascinating (and delicious), pigeon.

75. The Dracula Dossier by James Reese (no touchstones for the book, since they lead elsewhere)

I was planning to just copy and paste my review from my book blog, but then I noticed how incredibly long it was, so instead, I'll post a snippet here and anyone interested in reading the whole shebang is welcome to either cruise by my site OR find the book here on LT and read my review there. The journal can be found at http://www.livejournal.com/inkhornplatypus

In London, 1888, the Jack the Ripper murders occurred. In 1897, Bram Stoker wrote his famous novel, Dracula. In The Dracula Dossier, James Reese asks readers: What if the two events were connected? The Dracula Dossier purports to be a record, kept by Stoker himself, detailing the fabulous, gruesome events of 1888. . . When the Jack the Ripper murders begin, Stoker and his friends must decide what to do, and how to stop what they believe thay may have helped start. As they plan a course of actions, the bodies begin to accumulate . . .

In general, I would strongly recommend this book to someone interested in the Jack the Ripper story, historical crime theories, or similar genres. If you liked books/graphic novels (or movies, since both of these have been adapted for film) like From Hell or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you should definitely check this out. If you're squeamish, be forewarned that Reese includes a number of pretty grisly descriptions. Then again, it's a book about the Jack the Ripper murders, so really, what do you expect? If your answer is rainbows and kittens, I don't know what to tell you.

That brings my tally to:




75/150 Books total
5/15+ 1001 books
16/30 atypical-for-me books
9/30 non-fiction
10 Graphic Novels

Alas, it looks unlikely that I will meet any of my goals. That's okay though- I still love myself. And who knows, right? Anything is possible. As the stack of recently acquired ARCs looms, however, and school starts in less than a month, I kind of doubt it. Oh well- hopefully I'll at least make it to the big one oh oh.

76. Among the Cannibals: Adventures on the Trail of Man's Darkest Ritual, by Paul Raffaele

This is another ARC that I got from HarperCollins' First Look program. The book was published June 3, 2008 and is currently available for sale.

Paul Raffaele, a travel writer and feature writer for Smithsonian magazine, set out to travel around the world, seeking evidence of cannibalism, past and present. His quest took him to Papua New Guinea, Tonga, India, Africa, and Mexico, each location making up one section of this book. His goal? To determine whether or not the claims of cannibalism are true or not, and to learn more about the cultures involved in the practice.

Raffaele is a middle-aged Australian travel writer who, it seems, has been just about everywhere and seen just about everything. Stylistically, his writing is reminiscent of the old adventure writers, and it was easy to imagine him as a fellow drinker at an out-of-the-way bar, regaling his fellow patrons with tall tales from exotic locales. The plus side of this is that it made the book very easy to read and quite entertaining. The downside of this is that many of those old travelers had rather Eurocentric or colonialist mindsets and sometimes that seemed to be the case here. Lest any accuse me of excessive political correctness, let me state here that I have traveled a fair amount myself and have no problem with people giving an honest critique of other cultures. Raffaele's section about the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda (how have I never heard of this tragedy?) was very moving, and his condemnation is, if grounded in truth, absolutely just. However, there's a difference between righteous indignation based on generally recognized truths (ie slaughtering children is bad) and disgust based on a lack of familiarity with different customs (ie eating bugs is gross). When one of his guides asks Raffaele if he would eat human flesh, given the option to do so or die, he recounts being revolted, emphatically stating that he would not, and condemning anyone who would. This seemed to me awfully blase, given that he had not yet gone among the people being discussed.

This might be a good time for me to give a disclaimer, before I get back to the book. Here it is: I do not have a problem with cannibalism. Murder is bad. Torture is bad. Eating human flesh is gross to me, but doesn't bother me in a theoretical sense. Maybe it's growing up near the Donner Pass, one of the most famous sites of Western cannibalism. Maybe it's hearing about the ways people survived during major earthquakes, when they were trapped for days. Maybe I'm just a weirdo. But there it is. If you find cannibalism inherently evil, as Mr. Raffaele seems to, you may find yourself agreeing more with him than with me. If you're with me, though, you might also find him a bit condescending at times.

Okay, end of disclaimer. My point is simply that I was surprised to find passages that had a distinctly superior feel to them, that reminded me more of colonial writing more than modern anthropological writing. Still, I found the book highly enjoyable nonetheless. Not having been to most of the places he visited, I cannot speak for his accuracy, but I can speak to his descriptions of India and they were excellent. He does a great job of capturing the tone of a place, conveying both the good (the friendliness of the Indian people, for example) as well as the bad (the serious danger at night). I appreciate that candor, which is part of why I accepted his judgments, even when I didn't agree with them.

Upon completing this book, I felt like I had learned something, which is always a good measure of non-fiction for me. I also feel compelled to learn more about Uganda, also a good indicator of a book's power. Among the Cannibals won't be for everyone- I think the topic alone makes that pretty clear. But I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the topic and I look forward to discussing it with friends, once I've loaned it out.

76/150 Books total
5/15+ 1001 books
17/30 atypical-for-me books
10/30 non-fiction
10 Graphic Novels

77. The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

This is a book that I cold requested from the author, who graciously had a copy sent to me. I had thought it was an ARC but the info page says the book was published in March of 2008. So, new, but available.

Deborah is one of the most well-known women in the Bible, but there, she is known only as a judge and prophetess of Israel. In The Triumph of Deborah, Ms. Etzioni-Halevy brings Deborah's personal story to life, along with the stories of several other figures from the Bible. There's Asherah, the stunningly beautiful daughter of the Canaanite king; Nogah, the illegitimate daughter of that same king and an Israelite slave; Barak, the illustrious warrior and ladies' man, and a supporting cast of many. Spanning the years surrounding the last major battles between the Canaanite forces and the Israeli people (during this time), The Triumph of Deborah tells the stories of the peoples of Israel and Canaan through the eyes of its women, weaving their personal struggles into the fabric of the whole social picture.

Ms. Etzioni-Halevy does an excellent job of bringing these diverse women to life, making the reader hope that they will all find some way to live in peace with each other, even when that hope seems next to impossible. Even though the lives that they are living are in many ways far distant from the lives most of us lead in the present day, she manages to make their problems and triumphs seem very real. I found it surprisingly easy to forget that the story was taking place in the distant path, instead recognizing the problems that we all share, no matter where or when we live.

My one concern is simply that this book was described in various locations as historical fiction and while it could legitimately be described as such, it would much more accurately be described as a romance. I wasn't expecting that, and I'm not a big romance reader, so I was a little bit disappointed at the prevalence of love scenes instead of history. I think though that if someone knew that going in, and was looking for a light romance that took place in a historical setting with familiar figures, they might really enjoy this book. It was still a fun, easy read- just not quite what I was expecting. I would also add that the biblical aspect of the story was pretty minimal, so I wouldn't make that a major factor in deciding whether or not you're interested in this book.

77/150 Books total
5/15+ 1001 books
18/30 atypical-for-me books
10/30 non-fiction
10 Graphic Novels

78. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

This is an ARC that I received from the publisher. The Gargoyle was released August 5th and can be purchased online or at your local bookstore.

After hearing so many fellow book junkies rhapsodize about The Gargoyle, I decided to request a copy for myself. Then I put it on the backburner while I tried to catch up on some other ARCs, only yo discover that it was going to be publisher quite soon. So, after finishing The Triumph of Deborah, I picked this as my next read.

From the first page, I knew I had been immensely lucky in getting the chance to read this right away and only regretted not having picked it up sooner. I don't know if I can express strongly enough what an amazing book this is. Go: read it. Seriously. It is definitely one of my top picks for this year, and there's no way that I'm passing this copy on, since I fully expect to reread it at some point.

Our narrator, a former pornographer and all-around unpleasant guy, finds himself driving off a cliff one night, due to a combination of drugs, alcohol, and fatigue. Naturally, a horrible crash, followed by a fire, ensues and it is only be the slightest of coincidences that he survives. In the burn ward, as he contemplates eventual suicide, he meets Marianne Engel.

I tried to explain the plot but somehow I can't seem to avoid making it sound trite, or to prevent myself from giving out spoilers. Suffice it to say: although this is a love story, it's a love story like The Letters of Abelard and Heloise is a love story; like Geek Love was a love story; like Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a love story. The narrator is forced to constantly reassess both himself and Marianna throughout the course of the novel, just as people is a serious relationship must.

But there are plenty of great love stories out there already. Why read this one? Well, I can give you a few reasons. First, Davidson's prose is excellent. Personally, I love descriptive writing, and especially smile on the use of unusual yet apt analogies, and Davidson is a master of those. I wanted to include an example, but the book is so filled with great images that I couldn't bring myself to choose just one. Second, the historical details of the story were well-chosen. What I mean by this is that no one reasonable would call this historical fiction, so there's not that elaborate level of detail required to recreate a dead world. Instead, there's just enough detail to create a setting in which the story can proceed, but that setting is well-developed and appropriately three dimensional. Third, how often do you come across a love story between a cynical burn victim and a beautiful schizophrenic sculptor that is neither ironic nor implausible, neither banal nor ridiculous?

On a side note, I seriously think Mr. Davidson should consider food as a side job, if he hasn't done so already. His descriptions of the feasts prepared by Marianna didn't just make me hungry; they made me salivate, and if you don't believe me, I'll show you the drool on my book. I was forced to read passages aloud to my boyfriend, so that he could share my gastronomic torture. I hate seafood, and he even made that sound appetizing. Here, I can provide an example: "Dolmathes, trying hard to be swarthy and macho in their little green suits, scented with sweet red wine . . . a shoulder of lamb so well cooked it fell apart if you only looked at it while thinking about a fork, surrounded by a happy little family of roast potatoes." Now tell me you're not hungry.

The Gargoyle is a brilliantly realized vision of unlikely love, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I haven't even mentioned the side stories yet, and they were also wonderful- the main book just drew me in so deeply that they were forced to the side. I will agree with some other reviewers that the graphic depictions of the narrator's burns, burn treatment and even work as a pornographer would no doubt upset people. But just as with The Dracula Dossier, the icky bits should come as no surprise, given the subject matter. Yes, it's graphic. I not only didn't mind, but even enjoyed the descriptions of debridement, since I found them artfully rendered. Your mileage may vary. If you are easily grossed out, or easily offended, then this book may not be right for you. If not, though, The Gargoyle is a carefully-wrought and beautifully rendered commentary on the sometimes mysterious ways of the heart and I hope that you will enjoy as much as I did.

79. The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman

In 1599, an English merchantman prepares to present the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the ultimate gift in an attempt to secure a favorable trade agreement. In the Sultan's harem, intrigue abounds and seems to be settling around Celia, a young Englishwoman captured from her father's ship. She left behind a fiancee who, for the last two years, believed her to be dead and who is part of the trading expedition. Little by little, they learn of each other's proximity and struggle to come to terms with their new realities. In the present day, a young graduate student from England flees to Turkey, both to escape an ill-fated relationship and to research the story of Celia after discovering a scrap referring to her existence. As these stories wind on towards their inevitable ends, the reader is drawn into the worlds of the characters, hoping for the best and fearing the worst.

The strongest part of this novel is definitely the part set in 1599. Celia is an appealing character and the world of the harem is so filled with intrigue that it's almost impossible not to become invested in the fates of the characters. The very nature of the harem lends itself to deceit and Ms. Hickman does an excellent job of creating characters that leave the reader uncertain as to who is on what side. The modern day story was still interesting, though I found the main character's obsession with a man who is obviously no good a bit annoying. Still, we've all made poor decisions when it comes to affairs of the heart, so maybe I should cut her some slack. Still, it left me a little bit cold. Also, the random mystical throw-ins seemed a bit off to me, both because I found them silly and because they weren't really necessary to the plot. In truth, they seemed unnecessary and even at times took away from the atmosphere.

The Aviary Gate is an entertaining story that, by the end, had me fairly invested in the characters. I was sincerely anxious as to Celia's fate and sad to see her story end. It has its flaws but it's still an enjoyable read and I would easily recommend it to someone looking for a light but detailed historical novel.

80. The Death of King Arthur by Anonymous

A couple of disclaimers: first, this was my free penguin book; second, I was a Medieval lit major in college, so this is kind of my thing.

After the end of the Grail Quest, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were left with a little too much time on their hands. So what do bored knights do? Go to tournaments! Preferably in disguise! They also like to make promises sight-unseen, especially to beautiful young women and comrades-in-arms. Inevitably, trouble ensues. The fact that Arthur's best friend is "dishonoring" Arthur's wife and everyone but Arthur seems to know can only help stir things up.

The Death of Arthur is, honestly, just good fun. Stylistically, it's somewhere between oral tradition and the novel, so it might take some getting used to if you're not familiar with that kind of thing. Also, it's kind of assumed that you know who all these people are (Lancelot and Gawain are, I think, fair enough, but Yvain? Ban? I know, but do you?*) so if you haven't read a lot of Arthurian stuff, you might want to keep a reference source handy. It's not necessary (the plot's pretty easy to follow) but it might add to your enjoyment.

As far as the plot goes, there's a lot of hacking and hewing, plenty of sitting around healing, a fair amount of feasting- you know, the usual. Interspersed are many impassioned speeches about honor, glory, prowess, and love. Man do these guys love each other, and they're not afraid to say it and cry over each other graves. There's even a bit of swooning.

If it sounds like I'm mocking The Death of Arthur, that's because I kind of am. To a modern reader, some of it really does just read as utter silliness. That's not to say it's not good though. This is much easier to read than a lot of similar material and, ridiculous speeches about chivalry aside, there's some real depth here. I found myself sad for the characters all over again, even though I knew how it was going to end. And they always cause their own downfalls! Every time! Sometimes I wish I could reach in and slap these guys. But I digress. If you're looking for a highly readable story that will fill you in on the events that followed the Grail Quest, this is a good way to go. And everyone should know their Arthurian legends, really. Right?

*Seriously, Yvain: The Knight with the Lion is so great, it has to be one of my all-time favorite Arthurian legends. Also, Chretien de Troyes is probably a better source if you're looking for detailed stories of the knights as opposed to a summary, which is more what this book is.

Progress:
80/150 total
I'm too busy to write up the rest, and law school starts TOMORROW! so I will probably be going on a forced hiatus from book reading, much less book reviewing. Alas. So don't be surprised if I drop off the map again for a while- I'll be back, someday . . .

Good luck with law school! Hope to see you around here some, although I know you will be busy.

Thanks! I'm planning to try to keep my hand in, but considering how long my very first homework assignment took, along with the fact that I'm still working part-time. . . well, time will tell I suppose. I did manage to finish another book though, so I have not yet lost all hope.

81. The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin

Growing up in the early decades of twentieth century Berlin couldn't have been easy. Doing it as an orphan? Forget it. Yet that's exactly what the protagonist of The Glimmer Palace, Lilly Nelly Aphrodite, does. From her childhood spent in a Catholic orphanage to her involvement with Nazi propaganda, Lilly (or Lidi) seems to have been tossed around, on the winds of fate, into many of the worst possible situations. The world of the cinema seems to nose its way into her life sporadically, in part due to suffering Berlin's love affair with the medium. Ill-fated in love, friends, and fortune, Lilly perseveres, not because she is strong or courageous, but because what else is there to do?

Told in part like a retrospective, part like a novel, and part like a biography, The Glimmer Palace ranges between deeply fascinating and a bit tedious. Lilly is never really completely fleshed out as a character. She is described by other characters as ethereal, hard to grasp, or hard to hold, and it seems like the writer was trying to convey this sense to the reader. If so, she succeeded, but at the cost of three-dimensionality sometimes. There was also a lot of build-up, with references to Lilly's eventual cinematic successes scattered throughout the book even when they weren't really relevant, that made the story of Lilly's 'arrival' less climactic for me.

If anything, I would say that this writer tried to take on a little bit too much. There are at least two full stories running parallel, with several fairly realized side characters with their own stories, not to mention the entity that is Berlin. Still, the descriptions of Berlin were great and the author did an excellent job of conveying the desperation of the people during and after World War I. Also, Lilly's story did end up working for me, once the preamble ended. I'd certainly recommend this to someone looking to get an idea of what it might have been like to live through both World Wars in Berlin, especially as a child/young woman, or to someone interested in early cinema. It was an enjoyable read, and hopefully the author will continue to write about subjects this interesting, with perhaps a bit more focus in the future.

Wow. I knew it had been a while since I logged on here but two months? Yikes! Obviously, law school has taken over my life, especially that portion of my life that takes place online. I have, however, been reading and posting to my journal, so I'll post snips below- anyone desirous of more is more than welcome to hop over to my journal for the full reviews (though some of them aren't much, if at all, longer- alas) located at http://inkhornplatypus.livejournal.com/

And don't worry- there aren't any reviews of my scintillating law school casebooks, fascinating as Property, Pleading and Procedure, and Contracts are.

Book 82: The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway

What would happen to the world if scientists dicovered a bomb that would make things just go away, and governments decided to use it? Harkaway's debut novel takes place in just such a world, combining elements of standard science fiction fare with Mad Max sensibilities, some political commentary, psychological musings, and, of course, ninjas. If you're thinking that sounds like an awful lot to take on in a debut novel, you would be correct. My one complaint about this book is that it takes on a bit too much and can sometimes feel disjointed and over-stuffed. The author had some really cool ideas that he seems to have thought through really thoroughly. This is a good thing, except that he then tried to cram all of those ideas and details into one novel. The Gone-Away World clocks in at a solid 500 pages, and it's not especially light reading. Surprising, since the back makes it sound like a humorous work. Although it has certainly has elements of humor, I didn't find it funny overall. That's not a critique though; I thought the basic premise of the book worked, bizarre though it sometimes was- I just didn't think it was funny.

Book 83: Y, the Last Man: Unmanned, by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), and Pia Guerra (illustrator).

My fiancee picked this graphic novel up on the advice of some friends and I, in an attempt to avoid reading my legal casebooks, picked it up. An hour or so later I put it down, wondering if the comic book store was still open and, if so, if it would be silly for me to drive over to get the next volume.

Y, the Last Man starts with a simple premise: what would happen if all the men were to die? Suddenly and inexplicably? All, that is, except for one. One man, and one male monkey- the only creatures carrying a Y chromosome left alive, so far as anyone knows. Chaos ensues, naturally, but the authors have created some interesting variations on the usual theme. They also recognize that women are clearly every bit a multifaceted as men, so you get your crazy warrior ladies, glad to have seen the last of the men, along with the women who just want to hide in their beds crying, and pretty much every type in between.

Book 84: Inkdeath, by Cornelia Funke

The much-anticipated finale to Funke's excellent Inkheart trilogy. Darker than the first two, Inkdeath follows the story established in the previous books in a natural way, neither adding unnecessary melodrama nor avoiding unpleasantness when it arises. Truly, an excellent series. I don't think I can do it justice in the limited time I have right now but I will try to come back when I can. In the meantime, if you're a fan of young adult fantasy by authors such as Lloyd Alexander , Tamora Pierce, and, of course, J. K. Rowling, you should really check this series out. (As an aside, for you die-hard Harry Potter fans- the other two authors I mentioned write/wrote some of the best ya fantasy in existence, as far as I'm concerned, and if you haven't read them yet, you're missing out on some great stuff.)

Book 85: 100 Bullets: Dirty (Volume 12), by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.

Oh, 100 Bullets. How far will you go? Not for the faint of heart, this series of graphic novels is a must for anyone into gangland violence, mysterious cabals, double or triple dealing. You can almost smell the cigar smoke and blood coming out of the pages. One more volume to go, and so many more people to kill off. Don't worry though- the body count mounts plenty on this one. Repeated: not for the faint of heart.

Book 86: My Father's Paradise, by Ariel Sabar

My Father's Paradise is an excellent book, for anyone, really. It's not just about the history of Kurdish Jews, or even of the author's family, but rather a exploration of family dynamics. How they change, how they change us, and how they continue to influence us long after they're gone. You may learn something about an oft-forgotten people, or about yourself.

Book 87: Nox Dormienda, by Kelli Stanley

It's raining outside, of course; it always is in Londinium. Arcturus, medicus to the governor and sometimes detective, has a murder to solve and limited time to solve it in. There's a beautiful woman, a trusty assistant, a bully with a heart of gold, sneaky politicians, and plenty of villains, of course. All the elements you would expect of a hard-boiled detective story. The difference here is there's also a Mithraeum, a sprinkling of Latin phrases, some Druids, and talk of the Emperor. See, this isn't just any old noir- it's Roman Noir.

Book 88: The Unusual Suspects: Book 2 of The Sisters Grimm Series

After their parents mysteriously go missing and the girls get bumped from foster home to foster home, they're taken in by the grandmother that they had been told was dead. In Fairyport Landing, the girls find out that the story of their family is far stranger than anyone would have guessed: the fairytales that the Grimm brothers documented were all real, and the stars of those stories have made Fairyport Landing their new home. They've been trapped there by a spell, cast by Baba Yaga at the behest of the Grimm Brothers, so not everyone looks too kindly on the family, especially since the spell will only be lifted when the last Grimm descendant leaves Fairyport. Nonetheless, the girls eagerly join in their grandmother's self-imposed duty of fairy tale denizen monitoring and detective work. Their zeal for the work only increases after they learn that their parents' disappearance is linked to the fairytale community.

Book 89: Hot Mess, by Julie Kraut and Shallon Lester

Emma Freeman decides last minute to ditch her plans of lifeguarding with her boyfriend when that boyfriend rather abruptly becomes an ex-boyfriend. What better way to forget about your ex than to ditch the suburbs for Manhattan? Best friend in tow, she sets off for an internship, adventure, and maybe love in the big city. By the time the girls head back to school, they've found all of that and more: in total, a hot mess.

Whew. That's it. Hopefully I'll manage to keep up a bit better going forward but, let's be honest- I probably won't. Just know I miss you all, LibraryThingers, and hope to return to your welcoming arms someday. Signing off, Kplatypus.

That's some impressive reading during law school! Thanks for keeping us posted, and we'll look out for you at break times (if I can talk for everyone...).

Well, 2008 has ended and I never managed a final posting even. But, grades are coming in for law school and I think I spent my time wisely. During this last week before classes start again, I'm hoping to do my end of the year summary and start my new plan for 2009. It will be far less ambitious, numerically, but I'm cool with that.

My goal for this year was 150. I underestimated how much time law school would require, or rather, how little desire I would have to read after finishing all of my casebook readings, but still made it to 100, which is not so bad. Plus the equivalent of War and Peace in casebooks (but less interesting).

Once again, my reviews will have to be rather brief, since I'm so behind, but I will try to post longer ones on my journal soon. That may actually happen since the journal is listed on my resume, ie potential summer employers might read it, and if I'm claiming it as a current thing, it probably should be. So. Hoping.

Oh, and these are horribly out of order- they've been sitting in a forlorn pile by my desk for months, waiting to be reviewed, and have been knocked over repeatedly.

Book 90: Emma by Jane Austen
A re-read, obviously. I've always been really fond of Austen but somehow Emma grated on me more this time. She's clearly supposed to be an obnoxious character, someone who means well in a self-satisfied and naive way, but screws things up; my desire to slap her during this reading, though, was intense. Hmm. Still, good times.

Book 91: The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime by Michael Buckley
I really like these books, still. They're just a fun series. In this adventure, the girls learn that all is not as it seems in their hometown: the Big Apple. As a sometime New Yorker myself, I loved Bockley's take on what else might be going on in the city. Not too fluffy but not too dark that I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending these to young readers.

Book 92: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Eh. I've heard so much about this that I expected to either really like it or, more likely, despise it. Instead- eh. It was okay. I'm really not sure what the fuss is about. None of the women really drew my sympathy since none struck me as very three-dimensional and several aspects really struck me as thrown in for p.c.-goodness/shock/etc as opposed to narrative. But it wasn't awful. Just eh.

Book 93: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
A lot of my high schoolers read this for class these days. That's why I picked this up from the free book bin. Wow. It's pretty adult for that age, but I wish I had read it then. The author's message about Vietnam, and serving in combat zones, and even the military in general, is profound- if you haven't been, you don't know. O'Brien's descriptions of Vietnam were gruesome, and touching, and made me want to talk with make family members about their time in the military. This book might seem juvenile to some adults because of the simplicity of the writing, and it certainly might seem somewhat dated, but I'm glad they're having kids read it for history, and I really enjoyed it, if enjoyed is the right word for a book like this. I just hope the teachers that assign this know how to handle it in class.

Book 94: Fluke by Christopher Moore
Oh Mr. Moore. Always fun when I want light reading. This was very bizarre, and I don't love his Pine Cove books like I loved the vampire books but they were a welcome break from studying. The premise of this book is insane and entertaining. Whale-boys. Sentient goo. Marine biologists. Amelia Earhart. Rastafarians from New Jersey. Sounds like fun, right?

Book 95: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Finally! I can finally check this book off. At least it was a heck of a lot better than Robinson Crusoe, which I confused it with for years as a child (also Thomas Hardy and the Hardy Boys but that is neither here nor there). It was fun. Reasonably fast-paced, geared for younger boys, etc. I did rather enjoy the planning bits and the fact that the boy's independent gallivanting may have helped the crew immensely but still got him chastised severely, as was appropriate. Oh, old books with old fashioned senses of discipline.

Book 96: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I love this book so so much. I know. But I do. I read it at least a couple of times every year, have about three copies, one from the 18th Century (I think?), as well as a DVD of the Shirley Temple movie. What is wrong with me? I don't know, but something about this story of a little girl who is alone in the world yet manages to stick to her principles just gets me every time. You go, Sarah! I will read you to my children frequently, when I eventually have children.

Book 97: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore
Weirdness strikes again. I tried reading this and Fluke once before and didn't care for them but this time I enjoyed them at a moderate level. This one is actually even weirder than Fluke, I think. Primordial beasts. Telepathic lust-inducing mind control. Warrior Princesses. An Old Blues Player. Questionable motives. Crime novel meets soft core meets who the hell knows.

Book 98: Y: The Last Man, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
These just keep on keeping on. Definitely one of the best new graphic novels I've seen in a while. Yorick continues his quest to find the cause for the plague, a way to bring back the man half of mankind, and his girlfriend Beth, yet more obstacles ever get in his path. Vaughan's hypotheses of what might happen in a society suddenly run by women alone continue to be interesting at the very least.

Book 99: Getting to Maybe by Richard Michael Fischl
This was really good but probably not of interest to any non-law students. It's just advice from professors on how to approach these exams, where we as students normally go wrong, and what the professor actually wants. I plan to pass this on to several of my friends, and would urge anyone with a relative starting law school to consider it as a gift. Thank you, Mr. Fischl, for helping me acheive my scholastic goals this semester.

Book 100: Y: The Last Man, Volume 3
I actually read volumes 3 and 4 right around New Year's and I forgotten which side of the celebration they were on so I decided to split the difference, thereby allowing me to squeak into that 100 slot. Woo hoo! 66% of my goal but still not bad. (I'll save the actual review of Y until I can summarize the next several at once)

To recap:

I seem to have lost my piggy tracker! So sad. Alas. We must soldier on without him. Sleep well, comrade. Onward and upward to the Final Countdown!

100/150 Books total
8?/15+ 1001 books (manual recount to be done later)
20/30 atypical-for-me books
11/30 non-fiction (yikes- major fail)
12 Graphic Novels

So not great but again, I like to think I have decent excuses. On to 2009!