Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

[ << Previous 25 ]

Sunday, December 27th, 2009
50bookchallenge [ c_aztecgold ]	3:18p	Not gonna get to 50 These past few months have been rather stressful.  Had a lot of sad events since September and also went for a promotion at work which I got, yeahy!!  Sadly the one thing that keeps me relaxed got ignored and that is reading.  So here are the final few for 2009.  My New Year’s resolution will definitely be to make sure I do make time to read and hopefully I'll get to 50! #28 Let The Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist Oskar and Eli. In very different ways, they were both victims. Which is why, against the odds, they became friends. And how they came to depend on one another, for life itself. Oskar is a 12 year old boy living with his mother on a dreary housing estate at the city's edge. He dreams about his absentee father, gets bullied at school, and wets himself when he's frightened. Eli is the young girl who moves in next door. She doesn't go to school and never leaves the flat by day. She is a 200 year old vampire, forever frozen in childhood, and condemned to live on a diet of fresh blood. John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, a huge bestseller in his native Sweden, is a unique and brilliant fusion of social novel and vampire legend; and a deeply moving fable about rejection, friendship and loyalty. - Amazon.co.uk Took some persuading by a friend to read this, as I don't handle horror too well.  Glad I picked it up though as this book was eerily beautiful.  I really enjoyed it. #29 The Fetch - Laura Whitcomb Calder, like every Fetch, had only one name, but he had two ages: his Earth Years numbered nineteen and his Death Years numbered three hundred and thirty. Though it was no excuse for what he would do, for a Fetch, Calder was young. The Order of the Fetch, on the other hand, was old--it began when the ruins of the first garden could still be found hiding in the desert beside a river, a blanket of green having grown over her like a shroud, and, in this moist cave that was once Eden, at the heart of her darkness, the Tree of Knowledge bowed to the earth. - Laurawhitcomb.com I was really looking forward to this book as I really loved A Certain Slant of Light, although I did enjoy it, it didn't match up.  It was an interesting mix of fantasy and history which I really did enjoy but I just didn't get the desperate need to carry on reading that I got from A Certain Slant of Light. #30 Fire -  Kristin Cashore Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters of all - a human one. Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Fire is mesmerising. But with this extraordinary beauty comes influence and power. People who are susceptible to her appeal will do anything for her attention, and for her affection. They will turn away from their families, their work, and their duties for her. They will forget their responsibilities to please her . . . and worse, crush nations, neglect kingdoms and abuse their power. Aware of her power, and afraid of it, Fire lives in a corner of the world away from people, and away from temptation. Until the day comes when she is needed - a day when, for her king, she has to stand against not only his enemies, but also against herself . . . - Amazon.co.uk I was not disappointed. Although I enjoyed Graceling, it was an easy ready, but Fire was so much better.  There were many more levels to this book and I really loved the world that was created.  How it tied in with Graceling was very well done and I really look forward to future stories. #31 Wake - Lisa McMann For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams at any given moment is getting tired. Especially the falling dreams, and the standing-in-front-of-the-class-naked ones. But then there are the nightmares, the ones that chill her to the bone...like the one where she is in a strange house...in a dirty kitchen...and a sinister monster that edges ever closer. This is the nightmare that she keeps falling into, the one where, for the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant... - Amazon.co.uk A very quick read.  Worked well as an in-between for a book that would need more commitment.  Clever idea and I did enjoy the characters.  Definitely aimed more for the teenage market and not sure if it can really appeal as much to the young adult/adult market as well as other books can. Taking me into 2010: Magician - Raymond E. Feist At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician -- and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever. Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun. Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug's destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic. - Amazon.co.uk Happy reading and hope to see you all blogging next year x (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ vorvolaka ]	2:32p	reading statistics 2009 I very much doubt I'll finish my current book by Thursday unless the reading bug really grabs hold, so I'm going to just do my break down of books I read this year now. My challenges were to read 50 books and read 25,000 pages. I nailed one and failed the other by 278 pages.  ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
50bookchallenge [ mvenus929 ]	8:06p	Books 11 - 15 I'm ahead of schedule, woot! 11. Whispers, by Nichole Schulist Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Mythological This is a novel my friend wrote, and sent to me after finishing her first draft. It's still in its rough stages, but I love the world and characters she created, and I can't wait til she writes the rest of the series. And, you know, polishes them all up. I'm not going to rate this one simply because it's not available on the market. 12. Hunted, by P.C. and Kristin Cast Genre: Fantasy, Teen Lit Virtually nothing happened. This seems to be more of a placeholder than a novel in and of itself, and I can only hope that Tempted is better. I doubt it will be, though. One thing that is absolutely driving me crazy is how much is repeated from book to book. Yes, some short summary is important in a series, even for faithful readers of the series, but the Casts bring this way too far. We don't really need a rehashing of the characters and their roles in every single book. Rating: 2.5/5 13. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare Genre: Play, Comedy I don't know why I try to read plays. They really are no fun. I like watching them and getting absorbed in the story, because that's how they are meant to be portrayed. You miss so much when you don't have those little stage directions and whatnot. I like the idea of the play, but without a running summary, I'd miss so much. Rating: 3.5/5 (tainted by my dislike of plays, of course) 14. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown Genre: Conspiracy Fiction Just for the general record, after reading Stiff a couple months ago, I can say that some of the 'new' scientific things in this book are most certainly real and have been proven for quite some time. I'm not sure he even got his number right, because I don't have my copy of Stiff anymore. At any rate, it was an interesting book, and didn't follow Brown's typical pattern quite as strongly as it normally does. Still, very predictable in parts, and kind of a cheesy ending. It's certainly an interesting look at symbols and American myth and legend, and it's certainly no wonder it took him years to write the thing. Rating: 4/5 15. Ground Zero, by F Paul Wilson Genre: Supernatural Fiction I have to say, I love Repairman Jack, and I've been waiting for what feels like forever to get my hands on this book. I was not let down. I love how FPW integrates modern day events into his novels now, especially considering the first book of the series was written way back in the 80's. I'm looking forward to the last two books of the series, and then I'm super interested to see what changes when he goes back and revises Nightworld. Rating: 4.5/5 (1 Comment |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ krinek ]	8:41p	57, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Title: Water for Elephants Author: Sara Gruen Year: 2006 # of pages: 331 Date read: 11/18/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.Jacob was there because his luck had run out — orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act — in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival." -- from the publisher My thoughts: I enjoyed this book about circus life during the Great Depression. I especially like the way the author skillfully wove in historic facts such as an elephant not understanding English and the problem "jake leg" which was caused by tainted Jamaica ginger. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ blisspath ]	5:38p	Breaking News: An attempted terrorist attack was stopped recently when Jasper Schuringa, a director from Amsterdam, tackled the would-be bomber to possibly save the lives of every person on the plane. I think it is save to assume that this was not on Jasper's daily schedule. This story goes hand in hand with a book that I just finished reading called [I]The Noticer [/I]by bestselling author Andy Andrews. The book features a wandering prophet named simply Jones, who possesses a gift to help lost people regain their prospectives. In one chapter he helps an elderly woman, who is just living out her days to realize that she still has much to offer society. Jones uses the accomplishment of Norman Bourlag, who is known as the father of the green revolution. Bourlag created a system for growing corn and wheat in arid climates. The Nobel committee, along with several other experts, concluded that this simple concept saved the lives of billions of people worldwide. Jones then expands the "credit" to Henry Wallace, the Vice-President under FDR, who appointed Bourlag to the position. Going back further Jones connects Wallace to the historic peanut innovator George Washington Carver. Carver was a student at Iowa St. while  Henry Wallace's father was a professor there. The six year Henry got much of  his inspiration about plants from the budding scientist Going back even further Jones continues that Carver was saved by a white farmer who bought back the infant Carver after his mother was killed by white extremists. Jones argues that without the series of small events that occured prior to Bourlag's discovery, billions may have perished needlessly. Jasper and Norman have their place in history, will you be ready if and when your day comes? There are many things we can do to improve our odds of making a difference. Giving to worthy charities, working with homeless shelters, or being a big brother or sister to a needy child. Go out and make a difference in someone's life, you'll be amazed at how that will improve your own life. www.goodandbadnews.com (1 Comment |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ silverrain1139 ]	4:13p	My deadline was Dec. 8, 2009 Didn't make it and I really though I would. I'm not even going to make it by the 31st. Books 27-36 27. Title: Guilty Pleasure By: Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law--as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees--with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting--to help figure out who and why. Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along--yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters--both dead and alive. -amazon.com 28. Bodies We've Buried: Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World's Top CSI Training School Jarrett Hallcox The latest authors to capitalize on the CSI craze are well situated to add something new to the literature. Hallcox and Welch run the National Forensic Academy, a state-of-the-art, hands-on crime scene investigation school for people in law enforcement, but those impressive credentials do not translate into a good read. Despite some interesting war stories, the bulk of the book is an overly technical, step-by-step description of the course of study given to academy students ("The problem, however, is that ninhydrin is not reliable when it comes to the zinc chloride process"), which is likely to glaze the eyes of all but the most die-hard fans of the genre. In addition, the authors' failed efforts at sardonic humor ("Though there are probably a few people we could think of to stick in front of a moving vehicle, our grant does not allow us to kill anybody"), and clunky, florid phrasing ("With the first lightning strike of a tree witnessed by man, he has forever been obsessed with this primordial heat") make what should have been a fascinating insider account a hard slog. B&w photos. (Jan. 3) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 29. Title: Son of a Witch By: Gregory Maguire The long-anticipated sequel to the million-copy bestselling novel Wicked Ten years after the publication of Wicked, beloved novelist Gregory Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz. There he introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape -- but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison, Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up? For the countless fans who have been dazzled and entranced by Maguire's Oz, Son of a Witch is the rich reward they have awaited so long. 30. Title: Lucky By: Alice Sebold When Sebold, the author of the current bestseller The Lovely Bones, was a college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked and raped on the last night of school, forced onto the ground in a tunnel "among the dead leaves and broken beer bottles." In a ham-handed attempt to mollify her, a policeman later told her that a young woman had been murdered there and, by comparison, Sebold should consider herself lucky. That dubious "luck" is the focus of this fiercely observed memoir about how an incident of such profound violence can change the course of one's life. Sebold launches her memoir headlong into the rape itself, laying out its visceral physical as well as mental violence, and from there spins a narrative of her life before and after the incident, weaving memories of parental alcoholism together with her post-rape addiction to heroin. In the midst of each wrenching episode, from the initial attack to the ensuing courtroom drama, Sebold's wit is as powerful as her searing candor, as she describes her emotional denial, her addiction and even the rape (her first "real" sexual experience). She skillfully captures evocative moments, such as, during her girlhood, luring one of her family's basset hounds onto a blue silk sofa (strictly off-limits to both kids and pets) to nettle her father. Addressing rape as a larger social issue, Sebold's account reveals that there are clear emotional boundaries between those who have been victims of violence and those who have not, though the author attempts to blur these lines as much as possible to show that violence touches many more lives than solely the victim's. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. 31. Mistress of Justice By Jeffrey Deaver A plethora of generally interesting asides make this lethargically paced mystery an easy, yet ultimately a somewhat frustrating read. As we follow the paralegal days and jazz-piano-playing nights of Ms. Taylor Lockwood, we glimpse the truth behind the dark-wood panels of the venerable law firm Hubbard, White & Willis. Taylor's initial assignment is to retrieve a stolen document that could cost the firm a case and an attractive young litigator his job. The theft proves to be merely a subtext as one ferocious partner pushes for a merger, two older partners firmly oppose it and the rest of the principal players scramble for position while sides are drawn up. Taylor finds coked-up associates with grievances, partners with financial problems, and granddaughters to raise, not to mention call girls. Offices (including her own lowly hole in the wall) are soon bugged, and after an interminable wait, murder makes its entrance. Edgar-nominated Deaver ( Manhattan Is My Beat ) whips up enough atmosphere for a whole series here: late-night music, copious jazz lore, performance-art interludes, man troubles aplenty--the plucky Taylor partakes of them all. She's a likely guide to both the legal and the late-night, but this expansive mystery doesn't have enough narrative gears to shift through. Author tour. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc 32. The Tunnels by Michelle Gagnon Though formulaic, the debut novel from Gagnon is saved by smart, appealing lead characters FBI Special Agent Kelly Stone and her partner, Roger Morrow. A distinguished New England college is in turmoil after two female students, each the daughter of rich and powerful families, are found butchered in an old campus tunnel system, with strange Norse symbols painted around them. Joining the agents on the case is former FBI agent Jake Riley, who now works as head of security for one of the dead girls' fathers. As more bodies turn up—and a student goes missing—Kelly and her team find themselves in a race to stop the mysterious killer. While Gagnon doesn't bring much new to the standard serial-killer plot line, she keeps things moving with a brisk pace and likable leads. Kelly's interactions with Roger carry a nice blend of warmth, humor and professionalism, bringing a sense of the real to their partnership. Kelly and Jake's relationship is no less interesting, and Gagnon wisely avoids forcing a romance between them. Gagnon's characters hold promise for an enjoyable series; she just need to find some cases worthy of them. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 33. Almost Moon By Alice Sebold Sebold's disappointing second novel (after much-lauded The Lovely Bones) opens with the narrator's statement that she has killed her mother. Helen Knightly, herself the mother of two daughters and an art class model old enough to be the mother of the students who sketch her nude figure, is the dutiful but resentful caretaker for her senile 88-year-old mother, Clair. One day, traumatized by the stink of Clair's voided bowels and determined to bathe her, Helen succumbs to a life-long dream and smothers Clair, who had sucked the life out of [Helen] day by day, year by year. After dragging Clair's corpse into the cellar and phoning her ex-husband to confess her crime, Helen has sex with her best friend's 30-year-old blond-god doofus son. Jumping between past and present, Sebold reveals the family's fractured past (insane, agoraphobic mother; tormented father, dead by suicide) and creates a portrait of Clair that resembles Sebold's own mother as portrayed in her memoir, Lucky. While Helen has clearly suffered at her mother's hands, the matricide is woefully contrived, and Helen's handling of the body and her subsequent actions seem almost slapstick. Sebold can write, that's clear, but her sophomore effort is not in line with her talent. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 34. Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers By Michael M.D. Baden amd Marion Roach Baden, a leading forensic pathologist and host of HBO's Autopsy, and Roach (Another Name for Madness) are a dynamic pair, delving into delightfully creepy material that can potentially bring murderers to justice or free an innocent on death row. Baden is a methodical and ethical medical examiner and consummate scientist. Every page reveals another aspect of the forensic sciences, leading the reader into the Cimmerian world of autopsies, murder scenes, blood-splatter analysis, the life cycles of blowflies in carrion, DNA fingerprinting and the methods for identifying unknown victims by their skulls, teeth and bones. The authors also touch upon the obscure yet fruitful fields of forensic botany and climatology. The material is exhaustive, yet the journey is never less than fascinating. For the reader (with a strong stomach) interested in the juncture of crime, law and science, this book is chock-full of practical information about death by unnatural means. The account is replete with a cast of weird, amiable characters, historical insights (where else this year will readers learn that Paul Revere took the first step in forensic odontology?), and reverence for the scientific study of the dead. Baden and Roach invite the outsider into the laboratory with a gripping sense of immediacy, and conversely, they bring the usually hidden forensic sciences into the light of day. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. 35. Devil's Bones By Jefferson Bass The lack of a strong central plot undercuts the third forensic thriller by bestseller Bass, the team of Dr. Bill Bass, founder of Tennessee's world-renowned Body Farm, and journalist Jon Jefferson (after 2007's Flesh and Bone). Two cases occupy Dr. Bass's fictional alter ego, Dr. Bill Brockton—the death of Mary Latham, a 47-year-old Knoxville native, whose charred remains were found in a burned-out car, and a disreputable Georgia crematorium that simply dumped bodies on its grounds. These probes soon take a backseat to a cat-and-mouse game with the doctor's arch nemesis, Garland Hamilton, who tried to frame him for murder in Flesh and Bone. When Hamilton escapes from incarceration before going to trial, Brockton must keep looking over his shoulder. While a smattering of Bass's trademark authentic forensic detail lifts this main narrative thread, a more focused look at a single case might have made the novel a better read. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 36. That Takes Ovaries: Bold Females and their Brazen Acts By Rivka Solomon The expression "that takes balls" is often used to describe actions that are especially difficult or daring. Solomon has coined a female variation to characterize the stories of the 60-plus women of all ages and backgrounds who responded to her Internet request for personal accounts of events that demonstrated an uncommon dose of courage and strength. Some can be described with terms like bold, self-confident, and inspiring; others are just plain crazy. One woman outsmarted a Detroit pimp, one reduced a burglar to tears by appealing to his black pride, one high-schooler decided to face the world with hairy legs. When presented together these stories form an inspiring collage of strength and creativity. Because the stories are told in the contributors' own words, each carries the humor and passion of each individual. Framed by an analytical introduction and a call to action in support of women's rights, the tales gathered in That Takes Ovaries! make for an interesting addition to any women's studies collection. Danise Hoover Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved (4 Comments |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ ohshityo ]	5:03p	Book 26 Nightlight:  A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon This is a parody of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It's about a girl named Belle Goose who falls for Edwart Mullen, an extremely nerdy boy. She becomes convinced that Edwart is a vampire after several suspicious events (such as saving her from a snowball) take place. In no time, Belle is completely smitten with Edwart, who in turn has no experience whatsoever with girls. This book was written by a bunch of college kids, and although they are clearly intelligent, they should have done a better job of proofreading this book. There were many misspellings, typos, and grammar mistakes throughout the pages. The humor itself was sometimes "laugh outloud funny" but at other times too obvious. An easy read, pretty funny. 6/10 (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ muse_books ]	6:55p	Books 135-136: The Redeemer and The Devil's Garden Book 135: The Redeemer (Harry Hole Book 06) Author: Jo Nesbø, 2005 Translated from the Swedish by Don Bartlett, 2009. Genre: Crime Fiction. Police Procedural. Other Details: Trade Paperback 457 pages. How do you stop a hit man who has nothing to lose? Indeed! Although this is the sixth in the Harry Hole series, it is the fourth to be translated into English. In contrast to others in the series, the events of this novel take place over the course of a single week and it is written with a fast pace, which delivers an unrelenting sense of urgency. One freezing night in Oslo Christmas shoppers gather to listen to a Salvation Army street concert. Suddenly a man in uniform falls to the ground, shot in the head at point-blank range. It is a shocking and seemingly motiveless crime but it soon becomes clear that a professional hitman was involved and that the dead man may not have been the intended target. Harry and his team swing into action to track down the killer. The hit man realises that he has shot the wrong man and with his resources severely limited and the police on his trail, he is increasingly desperate. Yet is determined to allow nothing to stop him fulfilling his contract. Nesbø creates in his hitman an interesting and highly ambivalent character, providing flashbacks to his youth in Croatia where he gained the name of 'little redeemer'. Even with the fast pace, Nesbø delivers a plot with plenty of twists and turns and further develops the character of Harry Hole and supporting players. There were a lot of shocks in the final chapters that left me reeling and wanting more! Book 136; The Devil's Garden Author: Richard Montanari, 2009 Genre: Thriller. Other Details: Hardback, 352 pages I've very much enjoyed Montanari's Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne series of police procedurals, and so eagerly plucked this recent stand-alone novel from the library bookshelf. However, it just didn't grab me as strongly as those in the series. The plot involves one Michael Roman, a rising star in the New York District Attorney's office. He has a lovely home, a beautiful wife and two adorable twin daughters. However, he has a dark secret which is that a few years previously he and his wife went through illegal channels to adopt the twins from Estonia. Their mother had been a young village soothsayer and died on the night of their birth. Their father, Aleksander Savisaar, was also a local man, who believes himself an immortal figure from Estonian folklore. He returns some time later and discovers the adoption; enraged, he vows to find his daughters and return them to Estonia This very dangerous individual with shady underworld connections eventually finds his way to New York and begins closing in on Michael and his family. It is certainly quite a tense novel but I found it hard to cast Aleksander as 'the devil', even though he was a quite distributing character. He reminded me of Keyser Söze (The Usual Suspects) in his mythic status and savagery. In some ways I was more sympathetic to his quest in the early part of the book than I was to Michael and perhaps this was part of my problem with the book. ( Minor spoilers in my thoughts ) Overall, it just didn't have for me the strength or overall darkness of his other books. Also, perhaps reading it just after the The Redeemer, in which Jo Nesbø was confident enough to create a complex adversary who challenged the reader's sympathies as to his nature, made this more marked. (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ timeless_story ]	1:30p	48: Ocracoke by Carl Goerch Book Forty-Eight Title: Ocracoke Author: Carl Goerch Page Count: 224 Genre: Travel, Non-Fiction Synopsis/Thoughts: This was a book I picked up on impulse while browsing at the library. I live in North Carolina, and the Outer Banks (including Ocracoke Island) are a favorite vacation spot of mine. So I was curious to see what this book (the edition I read having been published in the 1950s) had to say on the subject. It's written in a chatty, anecdotal manner, describing the island as it was at the time the book was published. Though these descriptions are now vastly outdated, they are no less charming. The author describes a place and a time the modern reader can hardly imagine, a place with no police officers, because they don't need them. Where nobody locks their doors because there are no criminals, where everybody knows each others and helps their neighbor when they are in need. Where the only entertainment is a weekly movie shown at a local hotel, and square dancing. We're told about the local legends of pirates and shipwrecks, as well as where the best fish chowder can be found. This book made me smile, and made me wish I could go back in time to see Ocracoke Island as it was then. Current Mood: happy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ jenny_marie ]	1:14p	29 and 30 down 29. Push by Sapphire Very raw, compelling story of a Harlem teenager who refuses to give up despite her horrific life circumstances. The narrative poetry helped me with the adolescent perspective. Grade: A- 30. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar WIlde Wonderfully funny stories. I truly love Wilde's witty commentaries on social convention. Grade: A Next up: I am plodding through Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire. Not sure if I will make it by 2010. I am dreadfully behind my fifty goal. (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ timeless_story ]	1:05p	47: Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin Book Forty-Seven Title: Grave Goods Author: Ariana Franklin Page Count: 336 Genre: Historical Mystery Synopsis/Thoughts: In the third installment of the Mistress of the Art of Death series, Adelia's quiet life is once again disturbed by King Henry II, who has another problem for her to solve. Glastonbury Abbey has burned to the ground, and two skeletons have been discovered. The monks claim that the remains belong to King Arthur and his queen, Guinevere. Since Henry is in the process of putting down a group of superstitious Welsh rebels who firmly believe that the Once and Future King is still alive and will come to their aid, having proof that he is dead would be immensely helpful. So he sends Adelia and company to examine the bones, in hopes that she will be able to identify them. But of course, when Adelia is involved, things are never as simple as they seem, and the identity of the two skeletons is not the only mystery lurking in Glastonbury. I enjoyed this installment in the series, though not as much as the first or the second. I can't quite put my finger on why. It was a perfectly good story and I still had trouble putting it down, but it had a smidgen less of that special something the first two books had. I don't know, haha. Anyway, I still liked it a lot, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book, especially to see what happens between Adelia and Rowley. The solution proposed at the end of this book is less than satisfactory on all counts, and I'm hoping there will be some resolution later on in the series. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ mycroftca ]	1:03a	A couple of days ago, I finished reading Tom Holt's historical novel Olympiad, which gives his odd and very human viewpoint of really how the first Olympic Games took place. I found it a fun and engrossing read. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
50bookchallenge [ ydnimyd ]	5:16p	#48 - Being Committed #48 - Being Committed by Amy Dickinson (2004, 372 pages)  Hannah Lovekin's boyfriend of five years finally pops the big question. And what does she say in return? No. Lovekin, at 31, is anti-marriage, anti-family, and anti-intimacy. She really is the anti-girl, and after her boyfriend's proposal, she is forced to reevaluate her life and her stance on everything she is against. In each of Maxted's books, she features a female character who learns and grows as the central plot point. What I preferred in her earlier books - Getting Over It and Running in Heels - is that the problems are subtle, not shoved down the reader's throat. This book lacks subtly, and instead, the reader finds him/herself confronted with a very selfish, childish protagonist. At the end, she's likable, but I hated Hannah so much that I actually put the book down for two months, giving myself enough time to forget about how much I hated her before I finished the book. In the end, the book somewhat redeemed itself, but I cannot fully say that I would recommend this book to others. This is not Maxted's greatest work, which is why I can only give it a mediocre two and a half out of five brats. Total Books Read: 48 / 50 (96 percent) Total Pages Read: 13,966 / 15,000 (93 percent) Current Mood: annoyed (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ jeepgirl77 ]	1:32p	Book 42 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Genre: Classic Pages: 96 B&N Synopsis Beloved in Christmases past, and sure to remain a favorite into Christmases of the future, Dickens' popular holiday tale is the perfect Christmas present. The uplifting tale follows the mysterious and magical events that transform the miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge into "as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man" as ever lived. Although I have seen various movies of this classic Christmas tale, I'd never actually read it before and thought that I should. It was an excellent story. There are moments when I found myself pulling for Scrooge as he realizes the errors of a life barely lived. I'll definitely read this again next year! Books completed: 42/50 Pages completed: 13,618/20,000 Current Mood: hungry (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ krinek ]	9:33a	56. The Murder at Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie Title: The Murder at Hazelmoor Author: Agatha Christie Year: 1984 (original: 1931) # of pages: 228 Date read: 11/11/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "T-R-E-V D-E-A-D M-U-R-D-E-R It was only a parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night. But when the psychic table turning pronounced Captain Trevelyan 'dead,' the guests at Sittaford House became nervous. And when, a few hours later, Major Burnaby discovers the body, the game becomes an eerie and baffling murder case. Inspector Narracott for the police and Miss Emily Trefusis, hoping to clear her fiancé, delve deep into the spirit world -- to find a very human murderer." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I liked this wintertime mystery. I especially liked how Emily figured out the truth behind Trevelyan's murder. (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ cat63 ]	2:29p	Book 64 for 2009 Diplomacy of Wolves by Holly Lisle First book in the Secret Texts series. ( Cut for plot spoilers ) (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ misstreebc ]	5:46a	# 86 Pirate Latitudes Pirate Latitudes Michael Crichton This was such a fun read! High adventure with pirates, treasure, intrigue, and more! As you'd expect, there's also a lot of bloodshed and violence. Michael Crichton got it almost exactly right. The plot was extremely fast-paced, and the language was plain, simple, extremely readable, and just perfect for this kind of novel. I did catch a weakness or two. For instance, some of the plot devices were much too obvious. In no way did that interfere with how much I enjoyed the book, though. I highly recommend Pirate Latitudes to anyone craving an adventurous read. I also recommend it for reluctant readers, since the plot is so fast-paced, the action absorbing, and the language is easy to read. Merry Christmas, everyone!! (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
50bookchallenge [ maribou ]	3:41p	Naked Wood Christmas Storms (extra-short reviews so I can get back to reading!) Season of Storms, by Susanna Kearsley She continues to remind me a great deal of Elizabeth Peters' non-Peabody stuff... very very enjoyable suspense with a romance angle. (245/275) Sleeping Naked is Green, by Vanessa Farquharson Funny stunt memoir of a year of making green changes. Pretty fluffy/chick-litty, but that made it more enjoyable, not less. (246/275) Gordath Wood, by Patrice Sarath Probably the gentlest war novel I've ever read - but gripping, and not glossing over the war stuff, just... approaching it carefully. Oh, and it's a travel-between-alternate-worlds horse fantasy, too. Definitely going to read the sequel - it was more complex than I thought it was going to be. (247/275) A Prince Edward Island Christmas, by Deirdre Kessler, Wayne Barrett, and Anne MacKay Ah, my annual dose of nostalgia / deliberate homesickness. (248/275) Current Mood: bookish Current Music: Colin Bailey, "Skating" (Charlie Brown music) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ gwynraven ]	12:34p	#96 -- Mark Rowlands, The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons in Love, Death, and Happiness, 244 pages. This is a fascinating book by a philosophy professor, using his relationship with the wolf cub he raised as a launching point to consider the difference between human (or simian) consciousness and that of other animals such as wolves. He also considers morality and the meaning of life. All done in a way that is both understandable and interesting to non-philosophy folks. #97 -- Kelley Armstrong, Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld, Book 10), 339 pages. Another great installment of Kelley Armstrong's series. We're back to Elena, and I really do love her. These never fail to please. Progress toward goals: 358/365 = 98.1% Books: 97/100 = 97.0% Pages: 24264/25000 = 97.1% 2009 Book List cross-posted to 15000pages, 50bookchallenge, and gwynraven (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ muse_books ]	6:04p	Books 132-134: The Age of Innocence, The Wind in the Willows and Spies. These three books were the December selections for my reading groups. Two were early 20th century classics and the third a nostalgic look at childhood during WWII. Book 132: The Age of Innocence Author: Edith Wharton, 1920. Genre: Classic. Historical Fiction. Other Details: Norton Critical Edition, edited by Candace Waid, 524 pages. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel looks back to the post-Civil War period in old New York and chronicles the lives and loves of a group of highly privileged, inter-related families. The main character is Newland Archer, who has just become engaged to the innocent, conservative May Welland. Despite this he finds himself falling in love with her Europeanized cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, who has returned to New York after the failure of her marriage. Newland is torn between following his impulse to be with Ellen or to do what everyone expects him to do, which is to settle down with May. This was a beautifully executed novel with a subtle streak of social comedy. It wasn't a huge surprise to discover that Cecily Von Ziegesar had modelled her Gossip Girl series upon The Age of Innocence. I chose the Norton Critical Edition so that I could read additional material on its author, her influences and the context as well as various critical essays. I particularly enjoyed the piece on the two film adaptations of the novel. However, I only dipped into these after completing the novel rather than reading each and every page. Book 133: The Wind in the Willows Author: Kenneth Grahame, 1908. Genre: Classic Children's Literature. Other Details: Paperback. 304 pages. 1995 edition with introduction by William Horwood, illustrations by Patrick Benson. A welcome re-read of a classic children's book that I first read when very young. It is the story of Ratty, Mole, Badger and of course the irrepressible Toad of Toad Hall. It is a gentle, pastoral story with some very memorable episodes such as Toad's obsession with automobiles and the liberation of Toad Hall when it is taken over by a group of weasels from the Wild Wood. Then there is Chapter 7, which never fails to move me, when Ratty and Mole go in search of a missing baby otter and encounter Pan, the Piper at the Gates of Dawn. My edition included an introduction by William Horwood, who has written a number of books about anthropomorphic animals and four sequels to The Wind in the Willows. It was beautifully illustrated by Patrick Benson and also included a sample chapter of Horwood's The Willows in Winter. We all agreed it had a timeless quality. Book 134: Spies Author: Michael Frayn, 2002 Genre: Period Fiction. Coming of Age. Other Details: Paperback. 272 pages This short novel set during WWII won the 2002 Whitbread Award and is currently a text studied at A-Level for English Literature in the UK. In his old age Stephen Wheatley returns to his childhood home. He is unsure of what he is seeking but as he walks the once familiar streets the story begins to unfold. One day while they are playing his friend Keith announces out of the blue that his mother is a German spy. The boys begin to spy upon her; following her as she goes about her daily errands. Keith's mother does have secrets but they are very different to what the boys suspect. Still their seemingly innocent activities do have serious consequences, which are slowly revealed by the narrator. This book didn't quite work for me even though it certainly is a powerful evocation of childhood and tapped into my own memories of games played with my brother and friends that sought to penetrate the mysteries of the adult world. I feel part of the problem was its rather muddled final chapter, which introduced a new element to the story that almost felt tacked onto the end. (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ ydnimyd ]	11:34a	#47 - The Mighty Queens of Freeville #47 - The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A mother, a daughter and the town that raised them by Amy Dickinson (2009, 225 pages)  I came to love Amy Dickinson after reading her column Ask Amy and listening to her on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR. She always seems so down to earth and funny, so when I learned that she had written a memoir, I thought I'd give it a whirl. The book shows how, even though you can try, you never forget your roots, and in Dickinson's case, you cannot always leave the place and the people who made you who you are.  She starts from her divorce, and how she came back to her family to deal with the situation. The book then follows Dickinson as her daughter Emily grows from a toddler to the day she goes off to college. The book is simple and sweet, and I enjoyed learning more about the woman who went on to take the place of Ann Landers, following the advice columnist's death. I give this a simple and sweet four out of five home, sweet homes. Total Books Read: 47 / 50 (94 percent) Total Pages Read: 13,594 / 15,000 (91 percent) Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
50bookchallenge [ hollyweirdo ]	12:07p	( 1-57 ) 58. The Hours by Michael Cunningham - Another kinda boring book, I just couldn't get into it... 59. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella - I thought this one was entertaining. I finished it pretty quickly. I didn't see the movie beforehand but I didn't realize the book was based in London and I was reading it while I was studying abroad in London so it was nice to know some of the things she spoke about. But it was a really entertaining read, better than the Nanny Diaries. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
50bookchallenge [ bookworm84 ]	7:05p	No. 56 of 2009 Title: The Secret of Joy Author: Melissa Senate Rating: 5/5 Book: 56 Book in personal challenge with niun: 2/50 Fantasy, 1/50 Mystery and 0/25 Classics Pages: 330 pgs Total Pages 20,082 Next up: I, Alex Cross by James Patterson This was a great read. I loved all of the characters and the book flowed with such ease. I definately recommend this one to everyone!! xposted to 50bookchallenge, 15000pages and bookworm84 ( Book Description from book jacket or back of the book: ) (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ lifeless09 ]	12:27a	The beginning 1. Rebecca Daphne du Maurier Summary: A young woman is on a sort of vacation with her employer. While her employer is sick, she befriends and falls in love with a wealthy, well-known man, Maxim DeWinter. They marry and move into the great house known as Manderley. Now she must overcome the pressures of filling in the former Mrs. DeWinter's shoes. Her death and the people who were close to Rebecca still haunt the house and the new Mrs. DeWinter. The narrator has trouble fitting in and no one seems willing to let her be herself, they keep expecting Rebecca. Soon enough, rumors and the past start to fit together to reveal who Rebecca was and what actually happened to her. Review: I honestly love this book. It is the second time I've read this book but this was more a refresher for me since it has been years since I read it the first time. I love Du Maurier's dark style and the way this story turns from a simple love story to almost a haunting mystery. 2. Kiss Me Again, Stranger Daphne du Maurier Summary: This is a book of short stories all written by du Maurier. "Kiss Me Again, Stranger" is a story about a man that has his life shaken up when he meets a young woman working at the movies. They hang out one night for some time and he falls completely in love. After that night, he never sees her again. "The Birds" takes place in a small town on the coast where a farmer and his family live. England becomes overrun with flocks of attacking birds. Everyone is in trouble and tries their best to survive. "The Little Photographer" is about an upper class French woman on vacation with her children. She meets a young photographer and falls in lust with him almost. They meet in secret for a while. Eventually she tires of the relationship and tries to break it off. "Monte Verita" is the longest of them all and about a man and his friend who are both mountain climbers. His friend, Victor, meets a woman, Anna, and falls madly in love. She is a peculiar sort of woman but neither man really takes note of that. On a trip Anna and Victor climb Monte Verita. They stop in a small village and during the night Anna goes missing only never to be seen again. Victor has trouble coping that she now lives with a tribe of people who live higher up on the mountain. The narrator wishes to help his friend whose life is falling apart and possibly gain something for himself. "The Apple Tree" is about an older man who has been widowed. He notices an apple tree outside of his house and no longer wishes to get rid of it but a lot of events occur that bring about old memories and delay his action to get rid of the tree. "The Old Man" is one of the shortest where the narrator sees a family that is very different than any other in the neighborhood. He pays close attention to them and notices the father's in control. He never meets them but he watches them quite often. His constant watching leads to a gruesome discovery. "The Split Second" is the story of a woman is having trouble living on her own after the passing of her husband and her daughter living in boarding school. She winds up coming back to find out that her house is no longer her home and everything is different. "No Motive" is the last story. I don't know what the summary is for this one besides the fact that it is a murder mystery. I haven't read it and sites I look at won't give a description. Review: Some of these I liked more than others. I haven't read all of "The Split Second" and I never touched "No Motive". I really enjoyed "Kiss Me Again, Stranger", "The Little Photographer" and, in a way, "The Old Man". "The Birds" is the short story Hitchcock based his movie off of and just like the movie, I wasn't very happy with it. I am struggling with "The Split Second". Overall, a decent book made up of interesting stories. 3. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Katherine Howe Summary: A graduate student at Harvard, Connie Goodwin is able to move on and begin her dissertation. It is the summer now, so she has a little down time but she must begin her research. Her mother tells her about her grandmother's house in Marblehead, MA. Connie goes there to clean up the house and prepare it to be sold. It is a large, overgrown and rotting house. On the first night, she finds a 17th century Bible with a key and the name Deliverance Dane in it. Connie begins her research on this woman and finds out that she may have been accused as a witch during the Salem Trials in 1692. Interested in what might have happened to this woman and her physick book, Connie begins digging into the past. All while this story is told, Deliverance's story is told. Flashbacks to the past from other people's points of view explain more of what went on a few hundred years ago in Salem, MA. Review: I really loved this book. I thought it was intelligently written and it brought to light a different view point than what has been said and done about the Salem Witch Trials. It did get a little slow with a lot of the flashbacks because I was more interested in what Connie was doing rather than Deliverance's daughter or granddaughter but it was still something that drew focus onto important plot pieces. All in all, I highly recommend this book to anybody that likes fictional mixed with truth and mysteries. (Comment on this)
50bookchallenge [ shkarlson ]	2:46p	TEMPERING PRINCIPLE WITH PRACTICALITY. Cyclical models of history often draw a cpnnection between the remoteness of an event in the living memory of the current population and the greater likelihood of something like that event recurring. Something like that appears to be at work in Paul Krugman's The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, material for Book Review No 46. Professor Krugman begins with a summary of macroeconomic hubris ("between John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman, we thought we knew enough to keep [stagnation and deflation] from happening again," p. 4; "The Central Problem Has Been Solved," chap. 1) and the collapse of Communism, taking the principal intellectual challenge to market-system economics in theory and practice with it. He then notes that early in the 1990s, ominous signs, not unlike those present in the 1920s and oh-so-visible with hindsight, appeared in the economies of developing countries and diffused to more developed countries and particularly their financial sectors. Professor Krugman does not make his case in detail, although he covers some of the same ground Michael Lewis's Panic, reviewed here, and Liaquat Ahamed's Lords of Finance: The Bankers who Broke the World, reviewed here, is a useful companion piece on events leading to the Great Depression. And thus we are contemplating the end of the Oh-Ohs, and Professor Krugman's concluding observation invokes that cycle. Depression economics, however, is the study of situations where there is a free lunch, if we can only figure out how to get our hands on it, because there are unemployed resources that could be put to work. The true scarcity in Keynes's world -- and ours -- was therefore not of of resources, or even of virtue, but of understanding. We will not achieve the understanding we need, however, unless we are willing to think clearly about our problems and to follow hose thoughts wherever they lead. Some people say that our economic problems are structural, with no quick cure available; but I believe that the only important structural obstacles to world prosperity are the obsolete doctrines that clutter the minds of men. What makes this year's collection of Book Reviews intellectually intriguing is that other books contemplating The Latest Bubble to Pop, or Depression 2.0 would treat the Keynesian doctrines as obsolete. (Cross-posted to Cold Spring Shops.) Current Mood: creative Current Music: Beethoven "Grosse Fuge." (Comment on this)

[ << Previous 25 ]