Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb (Left over review from 2006)

This book was supposed to be my last G.I.F.T. post and my TBR challenge post, but I am a little late for both. Another joint review with Marg. I am in blue and Marg is in black.

No one likes to be alone during the holidays. For New York's most posh dating service, Personally Yours, it is the season to bring lonely hearts together. But Lt. Eve Dallas, on the trail of a ritualistic serial killer, has made a disturbing discovery: all of the victims have been traced to Personally Yours. Eve soon enters an elite world of people searching for their one true love - and one killer searching for his next victim. A world where the power of love leads men and women into the ultimate act of betrayal...

The next installment in the In Death series after Vengeance in Death finds Eve just returning to work after recovering from injuries sustained in the line of duty just in time for the holidays. The thing preying on her mind most though is what to get all of her friends for Christmas, especially Roarke in their first Christmas together. It is rather funny, everytime she runs into people she knows, she has to ask them if she should buy them a Christmas present. Christmas is a new thing for her, she has never had people to buy for before, so it is an experience reading her thoughts on the holiday gift giving.

Before she can even think about that, she has to deal with a serial killer who has decided to visit his victim dressed up as Santa Claus and who is planning to make each of his victims have some connection to the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. This means that before he is done, there will be twelve victims, one for each day of the song. The killer leaves behind his trademark on each victim, a holiday ornament pertaining to the days of Christmas.

Soon the connection between the victims becomes clear - they have all been clients of an exclusive dating agency. Now it is a case of trying to infiltrate the agency and work out who the perpetrator might be as well as who his next victim will be - even if that means putting one of their own on the line. This book has Peabody's first undercover mission, which is interesting to watch. She does not appear to do blind dates very often, because she leaves one guy out of the runnings for quite some time. Have to read the book to see exactly what happened, though, of course.

I really enjoyed the way that the author managed to infuse some humour into this book. The scenes where Eve had banned Peabody from going shopping and yet kept on finding things to buy for herself were laugh out loud funny. It certainly helped balance out what could have been a very dark book indeed. This book did have more humour than the others, and I also enjoyed reading it. Robb seems to be adding more comical characters at this point in the series, anyways, which is making for interesting reading.

For me, this was the best book in the series so far. Same here! I really enjoyed this installment. I think that Robb has gotten more confident in the series at this point. I also read the other holiday story, Midnight in Death, which carries on the interest. I think I will enjoy the series even more if all the future ones are like this one.

Marg's Rating 4.5/5
Kailana's Rating 4/5

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls [November/06]

Here is another joint review from me and Marg, from Reading Adventures. I am in black, she is in purple.

THE GLASS CASTLE is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeanette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. HEr mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

THE GLASS CASTLE is truly astonishing - a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar, but loyal, family. Jeanette Walls has a story to tell, and tells it brilliantly, without an ounce of self-pity.

I have to admit, this book has been recommended to me several times, but I avoided it. Following all the uproar following A Million Little Pieces, I was very wary about memoirs. Then, I started to really be told that I would like it, and I should read it, so I broke down and bought it. It was a very worthwhile read! During November, when I first had a reading lull and then was too busy to read, I read this book in a few short days.

The reason why I read this book is that it was selected as Book of the Month in one of the groups I was in. I didn't end up reading it with the group, but it's selection had piqued my interest enough to make me go out of my way to find it. I have definitely read more autobiographies and other non fiction books this year than I have in previously years, and this one is definitely one of the better ones!

The memoir captures your attention from the beginning. The novel opens with this paragraph:

I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was after dark. A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the walks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading.

So begins the story of Jeanette Walls and her family. An amazing story it is too. It makes your appreciate your warm beds, that's for sure. In one of the Jeanette's earliest memories, she is cooking for herself and catches her clothes on fire. She's three. That is just the beginning of the adventures that this family goes through. They cannot pay Jeanette's health bills, so they steal her from the hospital one night and make a run for it.

In many way the early years of Jeannette's childhood were idealised a lot. Dad was always convinced that he was on the brink of discovering the next big thing, and yet somehow they managed to skedaddle from one town to the next, keeping one step ahead of the law and debtors and goodness knows who else. And yet for the children, they had an almost idyllic childhood, in terms of being allowed to basically do what they wanted, in environments that ranged from an old railway station being used as a house, to a house in Phoenix, to a ramshackle, almost falling down dump in coal country.

The images of Jeannette's early memories are the themes to her life. She has a family where her mother gets depressed if she has to go to a regular job. She has a father who can only hold a job as long as he can stay sober. The children are allowed to do pretty much whatever they want. If they seriously injury themselves, many times they are just treated at home and sent back out to play. They are also almost always running from something. They have lived in countless houses during the course of the memoir.

The most telling quote for me from the book is relating to the mother - many times Jeannette and her siblings are basically starving with the money for food being spent by dad down at the pub, and quite often they have to prepare what little meals they have on their own, because their mother's philosophy is "Why should I cook a meal that will be gone in an hour when I can do a painting that will last forever?" As the children get older it falls to them to in effect be the parents. When their mother is employed for brief periods of time, it is the older kids who make sure that she is up in time to go to work, it is the kids who assist with the grading of papers and what have you. As they get older it becomes clearer to them that actually their life isn't ideal, and yet, the older three in particular end up being very responsible, and quite successful in their chosen fields. It was interesting to think about the dynamics of how some people can escape from the poverty trap, and what drives those people to become the people they are.

The interesting thing about Jeanette's family is that even though her parents have breaks where they are actually living with food and a roof over their house, they often get bored and go somewhere else. And then in New York, the children are making a name for themselves and their parents choose to be homeless. Her mother likes adventure, she is always saying. A safe home and food on the table is too save for her, she would rather live more dangerously, which happens many times during Jeannette's life.

Jeannette's mother interested me. She was a trained teacher, who married a man who basically rocked her world, despite the fact that she was often reliant on her family to keep what little food her children had. Whilst she was a passionate artist, she couldn't make a living from it, and she certainly struggled with holding down a normal job. She then made decisions, that lead to her ultimately being homeless, and yet, whilst she was cash poor, she was actually quite a wealthy woman. How is it that some people are completely materially focussed and yet others have wealth, and yet cannot seem to provide for themselves - there are lots of little things to contemplate as you read through this book!

I remembered hearing something about this woman when I started reading the book. I must have seen it somewhere or heard her story on the television because as I was reading it I found the story familiar. (I hadn't heard of her at all until I started hearing about this book). I think it is a very brave thing to tell people about your past. It is often something that you would just like to forget, and there are many times where she does just that; tries and pretends that she lived a different life.

It is an interesting thing about life. People wonder why the news is full of bad news and memoirs cover depressing topics, but it is really that they sell better that way. People would rather hear the bad things so that whatever is happening in their own lives does not look that bad in comparision. Some people may have bad childhoods, but the Walls children spent nights sleeping in the desert. For them though, sleeping in the desert was not a hardship - it was an adventure. Whilst they were young I think the family had a "life is what you make it" kind of theme. It was only as they grew older that they began to realise how different their family was, about how they needed to work hard to give them the means to escape from their world to something much better. I also think that the title is a very fitting one. Although, Jeannette's father always claimed he would one day build a glass castle, in truth the words go well to describe the life that Jeannette and her siblings lived through. Glass is fragile, and for many instances in their childhood, things were very likely to be broken.

This really is a book that should be read!

Kailana's rating: 4.5/5
Marg's rating: 4/5

A Book Review and a few other things...

To begin with, people should sign up for the Advent Calendar! It's the holiday season, why not take a day and give a gift your fellow bloggers! We still have a few days left to cover, so join in the fun. Marg is working on a more detailed follow up post, so I will say more about that later.

It is interesting, on the subject of Christmas traditions. The most depressing tradition seems to be happening at my house. Last year one of my cats, Maggie, was put down because it was discovered that she had cancer. This was Christmas Day that we discovered something was wrong when my sister picked her up and set her back down and her legs would not support her. Two days later, she was put to sleep. (I wonder, was "put to sleep" created to make people feel better about the whole enterprise?) Anyways, here we are a year later, 21 days before Christmas, and another cat is going to the vet, and likely will not be coming home. And, I am the unlucky person that has to go to the vet with it. It's my sisters' cat, but she refuses to do it, so my mother asked me to do it. I know why, every time something happens to an animal in this house, my mother is there when they put it down. I just think my sister should do it. I would want to be there if it was my cat, who is 12 and I can see joining the ranks soon. Then there is Sandy, who is 10. I hope that they don't all leave this earth during the Christmas holidays.

Anyways, off of the depressing note and on to other subject matters. I am going to post a review! Me and Marg, from Reading Adventures, have been reading J.D. Robb's In Death series and posting about it. She read Vengeance in Death last month, but I hardly read anything. So, I caught up today. I am just going to post her old post and add my part to it. And, everyone can just pretend I am not such a slacker... Marg will be the black text, I will be the blue.

He is an expert with the latest technology . . . a madman with the mind of a genius and the heart of a killer. He quietly stalks his prey. Then he haunts the police with cryptic riddles about the crimes he is about to commit - always solved moments too late to save the victims' lives.

Police lieutenant Eve Dallas found the first victim butchered in his own home. The second lost his life in a vacant luxury apartment. The two men had little in common. Both suffered unspeakable torture before their deaths. And both had ties to an ugly secret of ten years past - a secret shared by none other than Eve's new husband, Roarke.

Eve is looking forward to going home on time after having wrapped up a relatively straight forward case, when she is contacted personally and given a riddle to solve that leads her to find the badly mutilated body of a man in his luxury apartment. When another man is killed, this time in one of Rourke's empty rental properties, it soon becomes clear that whoever is killing these people is working his way towards Eve and Roarke himself, and along the way seems determined to make it appear as though Summerset might be involved in the deaths. As much as Eve dislikes Summerset, she finds it hard to believe that he would murder people, so as she deals with the killer, she has to find ways to either prove that her husband's close friend and butler is either guilty or not, as the case may be.

Just when you thought that maybe a case would not involve Roarke, it is back there once again. I find this particular In Death book really shows a side to the characters in the book that we have not really seen up to this point. As the case is related to Roarke and Summerset's past, we see a great deal of their history up close and personal. Summerset has always been included in the novels, but more as a minor character. In this novel, you get a very good taste of what Summerset came from and who he is now and was during his past life in Dublin. It gives him a more human feel and adds him better to the cast of characters. It talks about difficult subjects, but it makes both Summerset, and even Eve, all that more human.

I really liked in that book that Eve and Roarke went back to the mean streets of Dublin to meet some of the people from Roarke's past, reiterating that he is human (every now and again he seems to be almost too good to be true...just a little bit!). I enjoyed the scenes in Dublin as well. Roarke is a major character, but we often hear more about Eve's past than Roarke's. In these scenes we get a chance to know the person behind the perfect persona all that much better.

This book also sees the introduction of a new character that was given a lot of page time, so I presume he will be back. At the end of the last book, Captain Feeney was invited to take his family to Roarke's home in Mexico. When Eve needs technical assistance, she is assigned a newcomer by the name of McNab. I think we are going to see more of him, and I will be glad to. He seems to have a little chemistry going with Eve's offsider Peabody. Peabody is a very interesting character. I am glad that she stuck around and has became a major character. She tries and seem like this perfect cop, but during her undisciplined moments she adds the needed humour to off-set Eve's unflinching attitude. The two play off each other nicely, and adding NcNab to the mix makes things even more interesting. He plays off Peabody as well. It would be good if he became a bit more interesting of a character.

What amazes me with Nora Roberts in both her books written under the JD Robb and the Nora Roberts name is that she seems to have the ability to produce a lot of books, at a remarkably consistent quality. At the moment I am averaging one JD Robb book a month, and I am definitely enjoying the ride! What amazes me about JD Robb (I don't really read her as Roberts) is how the characters seem so real. There is the action showing Eve as a cop, but there are also all the background stories and her moments off work. It is not just about catching the criminal, the characters all have unique personalities and as the story progresses, the reader learns more and more about them.

Kailana's Rating: 3.5/5
Marg's Rating: 4/5

The Library at Night - Alberto Manguel [October/06]

I finished the book that inspired the question of what is everyone's dream library last night. I could have finished it a while ago, but I was only reading a chapter a night, until last night, where I just finished off the chapters I had left.

From Random House:

"The starting point is a question," Alberto Manguel writes in the introduction to The Library at Night: since few can doubt that the universe is ultimately meaningless and purposeless, why do we try to give it order? After all, our efforts are surely doomed to failure.

It’s hard to think of a more profound or serious subject to start with – but The Library at Night, Alberto Manguel says, is by no means a systematic answer. Rather, it is the story of the search for one. In the tradition of A History of Reading, this book is an account of Manguel’s astonishment at the variety, beauty and persistence of our efforts to shape the world and our lives, most notably through something almost as old as reading itself: libraries.

The result is both intimately personal and incredibly wide-ranging: it is a fascinating study of the mysteries of libraries, a thorough analysis of their history throughout the world and an esoteric, enchanting celebration of reading. It is, perhaps most of all, a book that only Alberto Manguel could have written.

The Library at Night begins with the design and construction of Alberto Manguel’s own library at his house in western France – a process that raises puzzling questions about his past and his reading habits, as well as broader ones about the nature of categories, catalogues, architecture and identity.

Exploring these themes with a deliberately unsystematic brilliance, Manguel takes us to the great Library at Alexandria, and Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence; we sit with Jorge Luis Borges in his office at the National Library in Argentina, travel with donkeys carrying books into the Colombian hinterland, and discover the Fihrist, a chaotic and delightful bibliographic record of medieval Arab knowledge. There seem to be no limits to Manguel’s learning, or his ability to illuminate his investigations with magical, telling details from the past.

Thematically organized and beautifully illustrated, this book considers libraries as treasure troves and architectural spaces; it looks on them as autobiographies of their owners and as statements of national identity. It examines small personal libraries and libraries that started as philanthropic ventures, and analyzes the unending promise – and defects – of virtual ones. It compares different methods of categorization (and what they imply) and libraries that have built up by chance as opposed to by conscious direction. Although it is encyclopedic (and discusses encyclopedias assembled by Diderot and fifteenth-century Chinese scholars alike) and full of concrete historical analysis (including a brief investigation of the prejudices underlying the Dewey Decimal System) this book is animated throughout by a gentle, even playful sensibility: it is governed by the browser’s logic of association and pleasure, rather than the rigid lines of scholarly theory. After all, everything in a library is connected: "As the librarians of Alexandria perhaps discovered, any single literary moment necessarily implies all others."

In part this is because this is about the library at night, not during the day: this book takes in what happens after the lights go out, when the world is sleeping, when books become the rightful owners of the library and the reader is the interloper. Then all daytime order is upended: one book calls to another across the shelves, and new alliances are created across time and space. And so, as well as the best design for a reading room and the makeup of Robinson Crusoe’s library, this book dwells on more "nocturnal" subjects: fictional libraries like those carried by Count Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster; shadow libraries of lost and censored books; imaginary libraries of books not yet written.

The Library at Night is a fascinating voyage through the mind of one our most beloved men of letters. It is an invitation into his memory and vast knowledge of books and civilizations, and throughout – though mostly implicitly – it is also a passionate defence of literacy, of the unique pleasures of reading, of the importance of the book. As much as anything else, The Library at Night reminds us of what a library stands for: the possibility of illumination, of a better path for our society and for us as individuals. That hope too, at the close, is replaced by something that fits this personal and eclectic book even better: something more fragile, and evanescent than illumination, though just as important.

I really enjoyed reading this book. For someone that enjoys to read, having an exploration of the libraries of the world is something that I look forward to reading. It starts with just his own dream library at his own house and branches off into a look at the libraries of the world and history. It talks about books and famous men. It shows the evolution of ancient libraries into the libraries that we see today. And, it talks about libraries and books that were long ago destroyed, like The Alexandria Library.

People came up with wonderful ways to look at their libraries. Manguel did not get the exact library that he dreamed of because of space constraints, but he speaks lovingly of his library throughout the book. The book also includes pictures of the libraries that he is talking about and the people that help him explain the world of books and libraries. This book even talks about the library carding system and how that came about.

My town doesn't really have a library, but we do have the university. It is an old building, but not classy. Many people believe that the library should be redone because it lacks a character. It is not a very comfortable library, it just looks like an old, cement building with books. While I go there sometimes, it is more a research library than a sit down and enjoy yourself library. And, as Manguel talks about, the library is becoming more and more an online one. Now that books without copyright can be put on the internet for everyone to enjoy, a great deal of the material at the university is slowly making its way there.

I would really like to read some of Manguel's other non-fiction books. His writing is not tedious, it flows, and I found myself enjoying the experience. And, if nothing else, it got many bloggers thinking about what their dream library would be.

4.5/5

To see more about this book, click here.

The Keep - Jennifer Egan [October/06]

So, I glanced at this book back when I got it, but it is not really a book that I would normally read, so I set it aside for a while. Then, yesterday, I saw an interview with her on television and picked it back up. I know I do the Random House plugs a lot, but I owe them a lot for this book. I don't know if I would have bought it, and I would have been missing out!

From National Book Award finalist Jennifer Egan, author of Look at Me (“Brilliantly unnerving . . . A haunting, sharp, splendidly articulate novel” —The New York Times), a spellbinding work of literary suspense enacted in a chilling psychological landscape—a dazzling tour de force.

Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank whose devastating consequences changed both their lives, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe, a castle steeped in blood lore and family pride. Built over a secret system of caves and tunnels, the castle and its violent history invoke and subvert all the elements of a gothic past: twins, a pool, an old baroness, a fearsome tower. In an environment of extreme paranoia, cut off from the outside world, the men reenact the signal event of their youth, with even more catastrophic results. And as the full horror of their predicament unfolds, a prisoner, in jail for an unnamed crime, recounts an unforgettable story—a story about two cousins who unite to renovate a castle—that brings the crimes of the past and present into piercing relation.

Egan’s relentlessly gripping page-turner plays with rich forms—ghost story, love story, gothic—and transfixing themes: the undertow of history, the fate of imagination in the cacophony of modern life, the uncanny likeness between communications technology and the supernatural. In a narrative that shifts seamlessly from an ancient European castle to a maximum security prison, Egan conjures a world from which escape is impossible and where the keep—the last stand, the final holdout, the place you run to when the walls are breached—is both everything worth protecting and the very thing that must be surrendered in order to survive.

A novel of fierce intelligence and velocity; a bravura performance from a writer of consummate skill and style.

So, cutting to the chase, I really enjoyed this book! It is not really something I would normally be attracted to, but it does have a nice cover. I took a chance on it back when Random House was releasing their fall books, and I thought it looked interesting. If not for that, I might have missed out!

On the interview I saw yesterday, she was talking about the two stories and how she had to find a way to bring them together. We have this man in a prison writing course, writing this interesting story. Then, we have the story characters working on the castle that would eventually become a hotel. They seem totally unconnected, but she made it work. I just can't say enough good stuff about this book! I was interested the whole way through, and I did pretty much read it in one sitting, so quite the accomplishment!

I think that interview was a sign, because if it wasn't for it, who knows how long it would have been before I sat down and read this book from beginning to end! And it has everything: adventure, intrigue, ghosts, fantasy, creepy old women, and even some romance for those romance readers out there. I am not going to say for the women. I actually get annoyed when interviewers talk about books and say that there is adventure for the guys and romance for the girls, which is what happened for this book.

I also have to say, does this book also not have a wonderful cover? I really like it! It is so calming, makes you wish you were there!

I think I am going to add this author to my list of authors to read more from!

I have been thinking of what to rate this, and, it really captivated me. I have gotten very generous with books, but I give it a 5/5.

To purchase, click here

The Uses of Enchantment - Heidi Julavits [October/06]

I really need to post about this so I do not forget what the book is about! I read a while ago, but it only came out on this passed Tuesday. So, there is some memory lapse in play. Anyways, this was my crazy week at school, so I should be back around a bit more now. There is some crazy virus spreading through some of the universities in my province. This has resulted in universities closing and one of them is under lock down. So, I got let home early today. This is mid-term period, people are overtired and sick and stuff, so we are supposed to be getting extra sleep and stuff. Anyways, on with the book.

From Random House:

In late afternoon on November 7, 1985, sixteen-year-old Mary Veal was abducted after field hockey practice at her all-girls New England prep school.

Or was she?

A few weeks later an unharmed Mary reappears as suddenly and mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming to have little memory of what happened to her. Her socially ambitious mother, a compelling if frosty woman descended from a Salem witch, is concerned that Mary has somehow been sullied by the experience and sends her to therapy with a psychologist named Dr. Hammer.

Mary turns out to be a cagey and difficult patient. Dr. Hammer begins to suspect thatMary concocted her tale of abduction when he discovers its parallels with a seventeenth-century narrative of a girl who was abducted by Indians and who caused her rescuer to be hanged as a witch. Hammer, eager to further his professional reputation, decides to write a book about Mary’s faked abduction, a project her mother sanctions, because she'd rather her daughter be a liar than a rape victim.

Fifteen years later, Mary has returned to Boston for her mother's funeral. Her abduction—real or imagined—has tainted many lives, including her own. When Mary finds a suggestive letter sent to her mother, she suspects her mother planned a reconciliation before her death. Thus begins a quest that requires Mary to revisit the people and places in her past.

The Uses of Enchantment weaves a spell in which the reader sees how the extraordinary power of a young woman’s sexuality, and the desire to wield it, have a devastating effect on all involved. The riveting cat-and-mouse power games between doctor and patient, and between abductor and abductee, are gradually, dreamily revealed, along with the truth about what actually happened in 1985.

Heidi Julavits is in full command of her considerable gifts and has crafted a dazzling narrative sure to garner her further acclaim as one of the best novelists working today.

I am going to be honest, when this came in the mail, I could not for the life of me remember what it was about. I seemed to think that the Salem witch connection played a larger role than it ended up doing. So, I was disappointed until I figured out what was going on. I enjoyed this book, though. It was rather strange, and it jumped around between three time periods, which, at times, was rather confusing.

My problem, since I think the blurb I took from Random House tells you the general idea of what the story was about, was the ending. I don't think I liked it. I thought it ended too quickly, that there should have been something more there. Or, more like, I did not like how it ended. I wanted something to happen that didn't happen. Mary was so interesting in the scenes where she is younger, but she grows up and gets so dull. The story ends with her being dull. I waited for her to get the closure that was sort of the whole point to the book, and she just wimps out at the end. I am not sure if I am making it very clear, because I liked this book, I just wished for things that didn't happen.

I also like the cover. It sort of goes in with the trend lately of showing parts of bodies on book covers. I wonder, what will people think 20 years from now when they see all these body part covers. Anyways, this cover is fitting though, because Mary was always hidden from her parents. You never get the impression that her parents ever really knew her at all, that anyone really ever knew her. She was a faceless void in most people's lives before her kidnapping.

4/5

I forgot! For more info on this book, click here

A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket [October/06]

I have had this book in my house for quite a while. There has been so much hype about it, I felt one day I was going to have to see what it was all about, but it took me a while to get around to reading it.

From Amazon:

Make no mistake. The Bad Beginning begins badly for the three Baudelaire children, and then gets worse. Their misfortunes begin one gray day on Briny Beach when Mr. Poe tells them that their parents perished in a fire that destroyed their whole house. "It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed," laments the personable (occasionally pedantic) narrator, who tells the story as if his readers are gathered around an armchair on pillows. But of course what follows is dreadful. The children thought it was bad when the well-meaning Poes bought them grotesque-colored clothing that itched. But when they are ushered to the dilapidated doorstep of the miserable, thin, unshaven, shiny-eyed, money-grubbing Count Olaf, they know that they--and their family fortune--are in real trouble. Still, they could never have anticipated how much trouble. While it's true that the events that unfold in Lemony Snicket's novels are bleak, and things never turn out as you'd hope, these delightful, funny, linguistically playful books are reminiscent of Roald Dahl (remember James and the Giant Peach and his horrid spinster aunts), Charles Dickens (the orphaned Pip in Great Expectations without the mysterious benefactor), and Edward Gorey (The Gashlycrumb Tinies). There is no question that young readers will want to read the continuing unlucky adventures of the Baudelaire children in The Reptile Room and The Wide Window.

It is a rather short book, perfect for a slightly stressful night at work where I wanted to feel like I accomplished something at the end of it. Last night, it was reading this book. As Lemony Snicket says on the back of the book: "In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast". It truly is a rather depressing book, and I am sure that all the other twelve books that come after it are equally unhappy. I might read the rest of them, have to wait and see.

I can say I read at least one, maybe one of these days I will watch the movie. I haven't done that either, but then there are a lot of movies that I would like to have watched and haven't. Anyways, this book was a very fitting Friday the 13th read.

3.5/5

The Owl & Moon Cafe - Jo-Ann Mapson [October/06]

I had sort of heard of this author before, but when this book came out, a couple of bloggers talked about it. Since I couldn't, at the time, seem to find any of her other books easily, I decided that I would read this one and then take it from there. I hadn't gotten around to purchasing it yet, but my friend beat me to it and bought it for me for my birthday. Yay!

From Amazon:

Mapson takes a break from her Bad Girl Creek series with this touching novel that chronicles the lives of four generations of women living under one roof. When sociology professor Mariah Moon loses her job, she and her Carl Sagan–loving genius 12-year-old daughter, Lindsay, move into the apartment shared by Mariah's hippie mom, Allegra, and staunchly Catholic grandmother, Bess. All four pitch in to run the family restaurant downstairs, where Mariah locks eyes with the charming Fergus Applecross, who's set to leave their California town of Pacific Grove and return to Scotland in a few months. Mariah takes a chance on him, to Allegra's delight and Lindsay's consternation. Allegra, meanwhile, is diagnosed with leukemia, but rediscovers the long-lost love of her life at the doctor's office. Lindsay, watching her grandmother struggle with both her illness and trying to cover the cost of medication, concocts a science project that involves growing marijuana (for medicinal applications, of course). Initially, the characters are pulled straight from central casting, but after a slow start, they become as complex and fascinating as the situations they find themselves in.

This is not stellar literature, I must point out. It was very much an easy read, but for that, it was still an enjoyable read. I like her writing style enough to eventually read something else by her. I am a fantasy and historical fiction fan. I read lots of Canadian authors. Genres like this are hit and miss with me. While this novel was one of those gushy coming of age type novels, it was still good. So, that's always impressive.

I liked the characters in the novel. I think, more than anything, they were the reason that I enjoyed this book. They were so eccentric and funny that you couldn't help but enjoy them! First up there is Gammy Bess, she is the religious member of the family. She tries to keep her family in line and is forever quoting the Bible or praying for some member or another of her family. She is quite an interesting character and really adds to the story. Next up is Allegra, she is the daughter of Gammy and is stuck in another generation where she thinks she is still a hippie. She is eccentric and funny, but also the hardest hit in the novel. She is the character that gets diagnosed with cancer, and has to learn to live with little energy and no interest in eating.

Then, there is Mariah. She was rised by these interesting women, Allegra being her mother, but she has spent the last few years of her life trying to run away from the life that this family represents. Then, she loses her teaching position and the old family restaurant is the only place that she has to return to. In doing so, she brings her own daughter, Lindsay. Lindsay is incredibly smart, but at the same time, lost. She has stomach aches throughout the novel, but does not consider them as important as cancer, so she tells no one. She has grown up alone, and her mother does everything she can to protect her. This is the period in time, though, where Lindsay learns how to shine.

An enjoyable read!

4/5

A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon [September/06]

I can't believe I forgot to write a review of this book! Following on the success of Haddon's previous novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, I was very intrigued to see what his next attempt would be. Honest opinion, his first novel was good. I read it and enjoyed it, but this book was more interesting.

From Random House:

George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or of manly bonhomie. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life can’t be ignored, however: his tempestuous daughter Katie’s deeply inappropriate boyfriend Ray, for instance, or the sudden appearance of a red circular rash on his hip.

At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden and enjoying the freedom to be alone when he wants. But then he runs into a spot of bother. That red circular rash on his hip: George convinces himself it’s skin cancer. And the deeply inappropriate Ray? Katie announces he will become her second husband. The planning for these frowned-upon nuptials proves a great inconvenience to George’s wife, Jean, who is carrying on a late-life affair with her husband’s ex-colleague. The Halls do not approve of Ray, for vague reasons summed up by their son Jamie’s observation that Ray has “strangler’s hands.” Jamie himself has his own problems — his tidy and pleasant life comes apart when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to Katie’s wedding. And Katie, a woman whose ferocious temper once led to the maiming of a carjacker, can’t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob.

Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way these damaged people fall apart — and come together — as a family is the true subject of Haddon’s hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.

A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon’s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Once again, Haddon proves a master of a story at once hilarious, poignant, dark, and profoundly human. Here the madness — literally — of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon’s crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.

I wish I had remembered to do this review before, because it has been a while since I read it, and to be honest, my opinions on it are not as fresh in my mind. I really like the cover, though. I think it is very different. I was at Costco yesterday, ask if you don't know what that is, and I was blown away by the selection. I owned most of them, because I gather Costco is connected with Random House, because most of the books there are Random House novels. This was one of them. The table is full of brightly coloured covers, and then there is this one which is relatively simplistic. I noticed this one first, it is an artsty and more original cover. There are common themes making their way through literature, and this book does not meet them.

Anyways, to the book. I enjoyed this family. I got drawn into them, and I found myself getting annoyed with them, sharing their happiness, and laughing at some of their more strange moments. It covers pretty much every one of the emotions possible, so you can quite easily feel like an emotional wreck while reading this. What surprised me, though, is that while Haddon's previous novel was a huge success, I haven't been hearing very much about this one. Maybe I am alone in thinking it was better, but that's my story and I am sticking to it. If anything, it might make your own family look more normal.

4/5

Click here for more information.

Chicken With Plums - Marjane Satrapi [September/06]

I have previously posted about reading and enjoying Persepolis 1 and 2 by Marjane Satrapi. So, when I saw that she had a new book coming out, I requested it from Random House. It's out now, so anyone that likes Satrapi might want to looking into reading it.

From Random House:

In her acclaimed Persepolis books and in Embroideries, Marjane Satrapi rendered the events of her life and times in a uniquely captivating and powerful voice and vision. Now she turns that same keen eye and ear to the heartrending story of her great-uncle, a celebrated Iranian musician who gave up his life for music and love.

We are in Tehran in 1958, and Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran’s most revered tar players, discovers that his beloved instrument is irreparably damaged. Though he tries, he cannot find one to replace it, one whose sound speaks to him with the same power and passion with which his music speaks to others. In despair, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures, closing the door on the demands and love of his wife and his four children. Over the course of the week that follows, his family and close friends attempt to change his mind, but Nasser Ali slips further and further into his own reveries: flashbacks and flash-forwards (with unexpected appearances by the likes of the Angel of Death and Sophia Loren) from his own childhood through his children’s futures. And as the pieces of his story slowly fall into place, we begin to understand the profundity of his decision to give up life.

Marjane Satrapi brings what has become her signature humor, insight, and generosity to this emotional tale of life and death, and the courage and passion both require of us. The poignant story of one man, it is also a story of stunning universality–and an altogether luminous work.

I could have reviewed this before now, but to be honest. I don't know what to say. The flap tells you pretty much all there is to say without revealing the whole story. I will express, though, that I did not really like this book as much as the two previous graphic novels I read by her. The art was good, and the story was different, but not something that I couldn't put down. It really is a just "okay" attempt. But some people might like it, because it is not terrible, it just didn't speak to me like her other novels have. I do hope to read Embroderies by her eventually, though. I think that one is more up with her previous two works.

My recommendation to everyone, this is a book that you might want to read because you have enjoyed other Satrapi novels, but it just didn't capture me like her others did. I would either get it from the library or wait a year until it is out in soft cover.

I just have to say, though, of all the Random House books that I have requested in the last few months, this is the only one that I didn't enjoy immensely. I have good taste, most of the time anyways.

3/5

For more information about purchasing a copy of your own, click here.

The Other Side of the Bridge - Mary Lawson [September/06]

I actually read this book a while ago, when I was supposed to be reading David Adams Richards new book. Mind you, I still have not finished that book, but I did read this one. For those non-Canadians out there, Mary Lawson's first book was called Crow Lake. It came out a few years ago to moderate success. I loved it, thought it was an awesome story, and have been meaning to reread it. In the meantime, she came out with The Other Side of the Bridge.

From the flap:

The Other Side of the Bridge tells the unforgettable story of two brotheres, Arthur and ake Dunn, the sons of a farmer in the fictional North Ontario community of Struan, whose lives are shadowed by the looming threat of World War II. Arthur-shy, dependable, dutiful-looks, sets to inherit the family farm; Jake, his younger brother, is irresistible: handsome, mercurical in temperament, and frankly dangerous to know. When a young woman, Laura, arrives in Struan, the fragile balance of Arthur and Jake's sibling rivalry is pushed to the very edge of catastrophe.

Some twenty years later, Ian Christopherson, the son of Struan's town doctor-naive, idealistic, and far too sure he knows the difference between right and wrong-takes a job on the Dunn farm. Obsessed with Arthur's wife, Ian is like a fuse waiting to ignite the hidden emotions around him.

The town's two generations are tragically linked, connected by fate and community but separated by war that devours its young men, its horror reaching right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire. With her astonishing ability to ratchet up tension slowly and delicately, Mary Lawson builds their story to a shocking climax. Taut with apprehension, surprising us with moments of tenderness and humour, The Other Side of the Bridge is compelling and humane novel with an irresistible emotional undertow.

The first thing to say about this book is I liked it better than Crow Lake. They are both wonderful Canadian novels, though, and Mary Lawson is right up there as one of my favourite authors. I think I am going to have to start writing these posts ahead of time and then posting them up when I am able, because I remember this book, but at the same time there has been a span of time since I read it that has taken the wow factor of the book away from me.

This book takes place in two time periods: when Jake and Arthur are young men and then later when Ian is a young man. Arthur is in essence looking back on his childhood. When people living in the town nowadays look at Arthur they see a strange man. He refuses to use a tractor, even though they have been in common use for quite some time, and for this people see him as strange. But, the readers know better. They have seen his past, the loss that he has suffered, and the reader knows Arthur better than any of the town folk know him.

Ian is the other main character. He is living while Arthur is older, after all the bad things that has happened to him have gone by. Ian is the son of the doctor, and he is struggling with his own identity. Everyone expects him to go to med school, so he has a hard time finding himself. He doesn't want to be expected to do anything, so he rebells through most of the novel against the ideals the town seems to set for him. He also suffers a lot through the novel. He has to deal with his best friend, and the lack of expectations that people have for Native Canadians. He expects his friend to excell, while his friend does what most people expects of him. Ian also has some troubles with his mother during this novel, troubles that even by the end he has just barely forgiven her for.

Arthur and Ian come from very different backgrounds, but Lawson manages to weave the two characters lives together very well. Now I am going to look forward to Lawson's next novel! For a great Canadian read, I suggest her. Her novels take place in Ontario and are both written really well.

You can learn more about this book by clicking here.

4.5/5

Tithe - Holly Black [September/06]

I finished another book. Yay! To see my review of it on Twisted Kingdom, click here. I thought it was a very good read.

Next fantasy novel, Raven's Shadow by Patricia Briggs.

My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo has Taught me about Life, Love, and Laughing out Loud - Kevin Clash [September/06]

It's an Elmo! As soon as I opened my box of books and saw this book, I knew I had to read it right away. I started it soon after I posted about my goody box and finished it up tonight at work.

From the flap:

The furry red monster known as Elmo has charmed his way into hearts and homes throughout the world with his unmistakable laught, over-the-top enthusiasm, and boundless love. Elmo's appeal is nothing short of magical. Kids adore him, and parents find him irresistible. What is is about his little monster? Meet Kevin Clash, the man behind the Muppet and unassuming heart and soul of Elmo. At last, the puppeteer who has performed Elmo for nearly twenty years comes out from behind the stage to share his story. Weaving together his memories of growing up with the life lessons gained from his furry red alter ego, Kevin reveals himself to be as caring, and as eager to grow and learn and love, as the very special character he brings to life. You will discover how young Kevin honed his talent entertaining the kids in his mother's home day care with puppets he made from slippers and coat liners; how, as a struggling young artist, he realized his dream to meet and then work for his idol, Muppet creator Jim Hensonl and how each and every day of performing Elmo reinforces for him what is most important in life. As Kevin has been inspired by Elmo, now we can all learn from his furry red ways. Kevin' s (and Elmo's) thoughts on love, creativity, friendship, and optimism remind us of life's simple truths and ultimately encourage us all to be a little more like Elmo - to live with joy, to love more easily, and to laugh more often.

I was browsing the new releases from Random House, and I saw this book in the non-fiction section. I am rather glad I did, because to be honest, I am not sure I would have even known this book existed otherwise. And then I would have missed out! I am not even a big Elmo fan, he was just really making his name when I was watching Sesame Street, so I was not enchanted with him as I was with other Muppets. In recent years, though, his fame has sky-rocketed, and that has brought him more and more to my attention.

I have to say, though. I am a huge Jim Henson fan! To me, Sesame Street is a children's show, and it was never something I could watch as I got older, but when I was a kid, I was right there. I loved three shows when I was a child: Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and The Muppet Show. I have been thinking about my favourite muppets, and, you know, that's a hard question. Every Christmas I watch Muppet's Christmas Carol. The tape is gone, luckily it broke on the year the movie came out on DVD! So, that, and Muppet's Treasure Island, are my favourite movies. But, muppets, hard question. I love Kermit, of course. I have been enchanted with him since I was a child, and I would LOVE to meet him. Picking runner ups, though, is hard. I like Gonzo, Oscar, Rizzo the Rat, Big Bird, Miss Piggy, etc, etc. Anyways, as a muppet fan, I had to read this book about the man behind Elmo.

This book was so great. It is a bit of a self-help book, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for Elmo. I, of course, know that there is someone controlling Elmo, but I never think of him, to me, Elmo is Elmo. To get a behind the scenes look at how Clash made his way to the controls of this delightful muppet and to see what it is like to be Elmo was very interesting. And, it is amazing to think what this writer has learned from Elmo. To think you can learn something from an essentially inanimate object without someone controlling him. But, Elmo has a very individual personality, he acts like a 3 and a half year old. Pointing out the way that Elmo sees the world was very inspiring, but when it gets down to it, this is a story about a man who is living his dream and giving the world a very special puppet to enjoy by all ages. More of the men and women behind the various Jim Henson (and other masterminds) muppets. They are very interesting reads!

To all the kids at heart, I recommend this book. To all the Seasame Street fans of old, I recommend this book. To anyone that wants a good read, I recommend this book.

4/5

I almost forgot, for more information on this book, click here

Jovah's Angel - Sharon Shinn [September/06]

I am going to post my fantasy reviews on "Twisted Kingdom", but I am still going to put the title, a picture, and a link to the post here. More to keep track of what I read in one place than any other reason. Also, any fantasy books I get from Random House, I will review in both places, as this is the blog that Random House is sending the books to.

Anyways, the link: here

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield [September/06]

I have had this book for a while now, and read it the day it came in the mail. I have just had to wait patiently for permission to post about it. Today is the day, I almost forgot, so I am sitting here trying to write a review worthy of how much I enjoyed this book. But first, what the book is about. From Random House:

A compelling emotional mystery in the timeless vein of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, about family secrets and the magic of books and storytelling.

Margaret Lea works in her father’s antiquarian bookshop where her fascination for the biographies of the long-dead has led her to write them herself. She gets a letter from one of the most famous authors of the day, the mysterious Vida Winter, whose popularity as a writer has been in no way diminished by her reclusiveness. Until now, Vida has toyed with journalists who interview her, creating outlandish life histories for herself – all of them invention. Now she is old and ailing, and at last she wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. Her letter to Margaret is a summons.

Somewhat anxiously, the equally reclusive Margaret travels to Yorkshire to meet her subject – and Vida starts to recount her tale. It is one of gothic strangeness featuring the March family; the fascinating, devious and wilful Isabelle and the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline. Margaret is captivated by the power of Vida’s storytelling. But as a biographer she deals in fact not fiction, and she doesn’t entirely trust Vida’s account. She goes to check up on the family, visiting their old home and piecing together their story in her own way. What she discovers on her journey to the truth is for Margaret a chilling and transforming experience.

I was hooked on this book from the moment it came in the mail. The cover alone is enought to capture someone's attention. Then, you open to the first page and you are at the books mercy until the very last page. I had heard good things about this book, and I am glad I did, because I might have read it in the future, but I would have waited for the paperback, so it would have been sometime before I had the chance to read it. The praise for it, though, meant that I got to read it sooner rather than later.

The book opens with a woman and her trouble with the truth. All her life she has been telling people false stories about who she is. She is a famous author, Vida Winter, who everytime she gives an interview, she tells a made up story of who she is. So, many people read her novels, but they do not truly know the woman behind the story. She has reached a point in her life, though, where she feels she needs to tell people who she is. She enlists the main character for that task. The chance for this young lady to finally reveal to the world the truth of who Vida Winter is. The Thirteenth Tale.

The young lady that Miss Winters gets to write her biography, Margaret Lee, has been living above her fathers' bookstore, where she helps him. She has written a few biographies, but more for her interest than any fame. One of her relatively unknown biographies, though, attracts the attention of Miss Winters and the message behind the words encourages her to contact Miss Lee. Margaret is dealing with her own sense of loss and not knowing who she really is, so while she is skeptical at first, she eventually agrees to write Miss Winters story.

And, what a story it is. It is amazing how who she was before became this author that sits in front of Margaret now. She lead a hard life, and by the looks of all the pages she has written, managed to make something of herself. If anything, she is famous for her unfinished collection of short stories, a collection that has left the world wondering and which is the inspiration for this novel.

The truth, as Margaret Lee finds out, is not always what you expect. This is a mystery story, a mystery about who this woman really is. I wonder if people figure it out, I had an idea about what she was hiding, but I didn't really know for sure until the end of the novel. And even for having an idea, it did not take away from the ending at all. I just found myself sad at the end of the book, because it was over. I would never get to read this book for the first time again, but I will read it again. I want to know what new things you discover everytime, but I also just plain want to visit with Margaret and Vida again.

It is a very gothic novel, very dark, but just amazing. I have been telling people for a few weeks now to read this book. I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed.

5/5

Oh, in my excitement, I almost forgot. To see more about this book and purchase it, go here.

Stardust - Neil Gaiman [September/06]

This is one of the books that my mother bought for me in Ontario, and I must say, it was about time I got around to reading a Neil Gaiman novel. Well, one where he writes alone, I have read Good Omens which he wrote with Terry Pratchett.

From the back of the book:

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria - even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient walls that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, likes Fairie - where nothing, not even a falled star, is what he imagined.

I have to say it again: I really like fairy tale-type novels. I shouldn't, because a lot of them are sexist, but I read them as a fairy tale and not a reaction to society as a whole. They started out as oral tales and only by traveling from site to site did they ever manage to be written down. They were written down by men, typically the story tellers were men, and fairy tales are old, so instead of dreaming that they are more respectable of women, I read them with an open-mind. Besides, the fairy tales that are being written nowadays are moving away from the conventions of the classical fairy tale and more into a modern telling that better represents the times.

I look at Stardust as an adult fairy tale. Many adults think that fairy tales are children't stories, but they were originally written for adults, children just adopted them as their own. If you ignore the Disney retellings and concentrate on the original stories, you will find that there are a lot of dark fairy tales that would not be someone's first choice for children. So, if I am not going to market fairy tales for children, then I shouldn't market this novel for adults. Fairy tales should be open to all ages, because really, this book isn't any darker than some of the versions of say Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty that parents read to their children.

Anyways, this book was a very enjoyable read. It starts off as a tale about a boy that sets out to find the prize that will claim his one true love, but it ends up being a novel about a man finding his destiny and place in the world. All the fairy tale creatures are present. We have the evil witch, the helpful little person, the magic, and even the "wish upon a star" moments. Not a conventional star, though, by any means. The star represents different things to different people. It shows the magic of the world outside Wall, but at the same time it shows you that seeing is not always believing. And you shouldn't set yourself on one goal, because things can very easily change along the way.

There are so many wonderful elements to this book. It is a very short read, but the story is wonderful. I say again how glad I am that I finally took the time to read Neil Gaiman, I was not disappointed. Maybe next time I might read the two books I have by him for the R.I.P. challenge... You know what, I think I am going to consider substituting this with another book on my challenge list. It is a dark tale, I didn't know if it would be. If I read this and two other Gaiman novels, that only leaves two other books to read.

4.5/5

The Ring of Allaire - Susan Dexter

This is another one of those out-of-print authors that looked interesting, but was a bit hard to find. This trilogy came together as a sort of stroke of luck. I got book one, this one, at one store, and then I happened to glance at another second hand store and they had book 2 and 3 to this trilogy. She has other books, so I thought this was fate.

From the back of the book:

Master magician Blais was dead, murdered by the evil ice-lord Nimir. Now there was only Tristan, an ill-trained apprentice, to carry on the quest to rescue Allaire, a princess held in enchanted sleep in Nimir's frozen halls. Though a thousand master mages had already failed in the quest, Tristan must succeed - or all of Calandra would be doomed by Nimir's greed.

First Tristan would have to find the wonder-horse Valadan, who had vanished long ago. Then he had to secure the aid of the one knight among many who was a true Heir to the Throne. Together, they must overcome the Guardian dragon of Nimir's realm.

After that - well, there was still the tenth ring to be found, since Allaire was powerless without it.

Nothing, of course, was ever that simple. There were complications...

I think this book could be considered a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty". At least you can see some ties between that fairy tale and this novel. The most obvious being the sleeping princess that the young warriors have to go and save. There is just more to the story than a few brief moments. It tells about the past life for this princess, but it also speaks to what life will be like for her. It is the first book in a trilogy, so there is more explaining to come.

This is another trilogy that I learned of from Chappy's Mom, and I am sure there will be even more in the coming months. I am trying to decide if blogs to read are good things or bad things for me. I seem to buy even more books, which means more enjoyment, but also a rather large to be read pile.

This is rather a novel where you are rooting for the underdog, because Tristan rather struggles to figure out his place in the novel. He can not claim to be a wizard or mage because his training was never completed, and so he has to get by on what he does know. He is the glue that keeps this band of travelers together, if it wasn't for his leadership skills they might have never even rescued the princess, let alone had any adventures.

I have to point out that Allaire is rather annoying. Everyone would do anything for her, but she seems incapable of doing anything for herself. It was wonderful when Dexter added another female character, it was quite the contrast. I look forward to reading the second book in this trilogy and seeing how the adventures continue. It has a good ending, though. If I was reading it back when it first came out I would not HAVE to read book 2 because it does not leave unanswered questions. Even still, the characters are of the sort that I will have to join in on their adventures again in the future.

4/5

Sabriel - Garth Nix [September/06]

I have had this book just sitting here waiting to be read for quite some time. So, I am glad I finally sat down with it. It really is a rather short book, you would be surprised how fast you can get through it, because it keeps you reading the whole time.

From Amazon.com:

After receiving a cryptic message from her father, Abhorsen, a necromancer trapped in Death, 18-year-old Sabriel sets off into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands. Unlike other necromancers, who raise the dead, Abhorsen lays the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him--and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father's title and duties--to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible exhaustion, violent confrontations, and terrifying challenges to her supernatural abilities--and her destiny.

Garth Nix delves deep into the mystical underworld of necromancy, magic, and the monstrous undead. This tale is not for the faint of heart; imbedded in the classic good-versus-evil story line are subplots of grisly ghouls hungry for human life to perpetuate their stay in the world of the living, and dark, devastating secrets of betrayal and loss. Just try to put this book down.

For some reason this book has no description on the back or inside about what it is about. I think that is a stupid thing to do, to be honest, because some people are not going to buy it without knowing what it is about.

Anyways, this novel follows 18-year-old Sabriel on her adventures after receiving a very disturbing message from her father. She had lead a sheltered life up until then, and was not really aware of what was going on in the Old Kingdom, the place where she was born. She had lived outside the wall for many years, and her father only occassionally filled her in on what she was missing while being outside. So, when she had to go back there, she found herself on an adventure that she was totally unaware of. Since many Outsiders did not dare to cross the Wall, many people were unaware of what was going on in the Old Kingdom. This meant that Sabriel didn't know her history very well, and had to fill herself in as she went along.

This trilogy received the same sort of attention as Philip Pullman's trilogy, but if I have to be very honest, I liked this one better. I just never was able to get into Pullman's first novel, and as a result have stayed away from the other two books in the trilogy. I will get to them one day, but I would rather read the rest of this trilogy than return to Pullman.

Sabriel is a very human heroine. She gets the job done, but like regular folks she has to deal with fear and indecision. In many hero novels, the main character seems to be super-human, Sabriel is a character that would be easier to relate to. She also has to deal with the fact that if her father was dead, she was now a very powerful person in the Old Kingdom, something that she had never really thought of before and was not prepared to take on. There's even a little romance in the novel, but it is not the most important thing ever. Instead of the damsol in distress, Sabriel saves a young man that has been trapped in Death for about 200 years. I am afraid to say it, but romance just seems to be a given when things like this happen.

You will really enjoy this novel, I can safely say. It is well-written, and Sabriel is not an annoying heroine. She gets the job done, but at the same time has human failings. It makes her the better character to read about, I think. It is also the more interesting fantasy novel I have read with a Necromancer in the fore-front.

4/5

Ghost King - David Gemmell [September/06]

I mentioned this book in a previous post, as it was one of the books I received earlier this week as a gift. I have been trying to read David Gemmell for a while because he really is a very well-written author, and so far I have really enjoyed reading books by him. Ghost King is the first in the Stones of Power duology.

From the back of the book:

Rebellion and invasion have plunged Britannia into the Dark Ages. Chaos and terror stalk the land, the King slain by traitors, the great Sword of Power vanished beyond the Circle of Mist. Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Brigante tribesmen mass together to destroy the realm, aided by the powers of the Witch Queen and the Lord of the Undead. Against them stands a weakling boy, and an old mountain warrior. But the boy has the blood of kings, and the warrior is Culain, the legendary Lord of the Lance. And he alone knows the dread secret of the Witch Queen.

I read this book because a friend of mine suggested it to me. I was just finishing up his Troy book that I read last month, and talking about how I would like to read more by him. That was when she told me about this duology. She knows I really like Arthurian retellings, and that is what this is. With that knowledge in hand, I bought the two books to further add to the Arthurian novels I have read.

Anyways, I must point out, that I spent the book looking for Arthur. Good thing to note, he is not alive yet, this is a story about the generation that came before him. I assume he enters the novel in the next book. Merlin is in the novel, but his name is spelled differently, so I just assumed that the main character was Arthur with a different name. I was wrong, which became clearer as the book goes on. It takes a different spin on the Arthurian legends, makes Merlin's character even more interesting and then add in Culain, who add a different touch to the novel, and you have a very interesting spin on the legend.

I really enjoyed this relatively short novel. So many Arthurian tales concentrate on Arthur, it is always good to see the focus change a bit. It also sets up book two very well, at least for me, who was looking for Arthur through the whole novel. And if Arthur doesn't show up in book two, it is still a worthwhile read. I must point that while the main female character in here has her failings, she is a much stronger character than Guinevere can be written as. When the men go to war, she is right there with them instead of home praying. Guinevere has her strong points, but I liked the character in this book better.

This is an adventure story that will have you wondering what will be happening next.

4/5

Archangel - Sharon Shinn [September/06]

Sharon Shinn is an author that has been on my list for a few months and I just got around to her. I had never heard of her before, it is sort of confining when your reading friends around you don't read fantasy, because then you have no one to tell you about interesting authors. I have the blogging world to thank for this recommendation.

From the back of the book:

And so it came to pass...

Through science, faith and force of will, the Harmonics carved out for themselves a society that they conceived of as perfect. Diverse people held together by respect for each other and the prospect of swift punishment if they disobeyed their laws. Fertile land that embraced a variety of climates and seasons. Angels to guard the mortals and mystics to guard the forbidden knowledge. JEHOVAH to watch over them all...

Generations later, the armed starship Jehovah still looms over the planet of Samaria, programmed to unleash its arsenal if peace is not sustained. But an age of corruption has come to the land, threatening that peace and placing the Samarians in grave danger. Their only hope lies in the crowning of a new Archangel. The oracles have chosen for this honor the angel name Gabriel, and further decreed that he must first wed a mortal woman named Rachel.

It is his destiny and hers. And Gabriel is certain that she will greet the news of her betrothal with enthusiasm, and a devotion to duty equal to his own.

Rachel, however, has other ideas...

This was such a good book. It traveled with my mother from Ontario to back here, and it was so worth the trip. Sharon Shinn is not an author that bookstores around here carry, so it was either look in other bookstores or order from Amazon. Now that I have read this book, I want to order the next two off Amazon so I can see what is going to happen next. I normally have one last Amazon order before I go back to school, because I need books to read over the long winter months. So, I can see me getting the two books and reading the five books that make up the Samaria story very soon.

A brief description of the book would start with the fact that the current Archangel is corrupt. He believes that there is no god and starts down a path of defying the god. It starts on the very day that he marries his angelica and all of his 20 year term he does everything he can to go against what others believe to be the truth. His angel clan lives in anarchy, they have no moral background because they do not believe that anything that can happen to them. Enter Gabriel, who has to clean up the mess that the Archangel has put into motion.

Gabriel's life is not easy from the start. It would appear that the Archangel would like nothing more than to stay in power, so he tries and mess things up for Gabriel and Rachel twenty years before they even know their fates. Rachel's whole life has relied on what angels have done to her, she feels like she has never lived the life that she wants because they are always changing things for her. When Gabriel sets out to locate his future angelica and wife, he finds it a very difficult task because she has moved around her whole life. When he does find her, it is in a household where she has been taken as a slave and he offers her freendom.

I must tell you, Gabriel and Rachel fight for most of the novel. Neither of them are very willing to back down to the other, and Rachel is so scared of love that she will fight it at any cost. This means sparks will fly and not always the good kind. Sometimes, you might find her annoying, it is definiately not a two lovers meet, fall in love, and off to bed together sort of book. Some people considered it a romance, and it is. Just not a satisfying romance for some because they fight themselves the whole course of the novel.

I strongly recommend this book! Just writing this review is making my will-power to get the next one a very delicate thing. I finished Archangel last night and was sad, you really get to know these two and I think they are those sort of characters that when you read the last book and understand that there is no more to come, it will be hard to say good bye.

4.5/5