The Fantasy Review - Part Two

Okay, I am home on my computer now, so let me just finish this up!

The next four fantasy books that I read were all for a younger audience. I think I read more young adult books this year than I normally do, but considering I only really kept track the last two years, it is hard for me to judge. So, the four books were Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda, Midnight by Erin Hunter, Enna Burning by Shannon Hale, and The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine. Rodda's book was actually pretty good, I might have to find another book by her one of these days. Hunter's series is cute, all about cats and their adventures. Enna Burning was my least favourite Shannon Hale book. I wanted to like it, but it just did not work for me. Caine's book is another book in her Morganville Vampire series, like I said before, good but not great.

Then, back to Colleen Gleason for the second book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, Rises the Night. Like I said a couple times before, I was really surprised that I liked this series, but I do, and I am looking forward to more from her this year. One of the best of 2007.

Then, I went with Gaiman again. I don't hate him, I just don't love him. This time I went the short story route, and I am just not a short story person anyways, so it really does not matter who the author is. Smoke and Mirrors had a lot of interesting stories, so it was a worthwhile read. I will have to dig American Gods off the shelf for this year. See what I think of that one.

Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia Wrede was horrible. I have read other books by her, and while sometimes I do like them, there is something about her writing style that does not always working for me.

More Gaiman, this time with InterWorld. I would just read my review, it will tell you what I thought of the book.... Then, I read M is for Magic. Most of the stories available in this book have been published elsewhere, but it was still fun. Again, though, short stories are not really my thing.

I also finally read Terry Goodkind this year. I really need to close comments sometimes on series, because he is an author that people have opinions on! It's just like Jack Whyte, people keep telling me that the series loses its steam, but I do not want to hear that, I want to pretend that no one else has read the series and I am first to them. It takes the fun out of it when I am waiting for the books to start to suck. So, I loved Wizard's First Rule and I plan to continue with the series this year.

More Mercedes Lackey, this time with The Fire Rose. I intend to finish this series, but I think I like the Five Hundred Kingdom one better. Then, there are all her other books... I will get to them one of these days!

Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling was another bad read. I plan to try her other trilogy, though, so maybe I will like it better.

Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan was cute, but I actually was not super impressed with it. I doubt I will read anymore from her. Moonrise was another good Erin Hunter novel, though.

Then, I moved on to some non-fiction with The History of the Hobbit by John D. Rateliff. I still have not bought book two, mostly because of the price, but I will read it one of these days. I really liked this book, and I plan to read more from and about Tolkien this year.

More Tas! Yay! This time in Dragons of the Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I think I might read them after finishing the book I am currently reading... I didn't like this one as much as the first one, but it was still enjoyable.

Then, I went on a Star Trek kick: The Battle of Betazed by Charlotte Douglas and Susan Kearney, A Time to be Born by John Vornholt, House of Cards by Peter David, interjection of C.S. Lewis, and then All Good Things by Michael Jan Friedman, Dead in Winter by Michael Jan Friedman, Homecoming by Christie Golden, The Farther Shore by Christie Golden, Into the Void by Peter David, The Two-Front War by Peter David, and finally End Game by Peter David. Then, I returned to it one more time for Mirror Universe: Glass Empires by Various Authors. Then, I never read anymore Star Trek all year!

Next up, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I did not like this book as much as other people either, but it could have been the timing.

Last year, I also read Simon R. Green. I have not reviewed the books yet, though. By the time I do, I doubt I will remember what happened, but I do know that I like this series. It sort of reminds me a bit of Jim Butcher's Dresdan Files, but not entirely. It's fun, though, so I plan to read book three this year. Last year I read Something from the Nightside and Agents of Light and Darkness.

I also read another Robin Hobb book, and I did not review it! That really sucks because I really like that author. I read Golden Fool, another fav from 2007.

Then, more Shannon Hale with Book of a Thousand Days. I liked this one better than Enna Burning. I also read China Mieville for the first time with Un Lun Dun. There were a few issues, and it took me two tries to get into it. I sort of wonder if it was the book I liked or the idea of the book. Then, back to Shannon Hale with Princess Academy.

I really liked this next book because it reminded me a little of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. I love that whole idea for some reason, even if it is not dinosaurs. Chris Roberson had my interest with Set the Seas on Fire.

I finally read Artemis Fowl by Eoin Coelfer. A promising series, but it might be a while before I read another book in it. The Book Without Words by Avi was fun too.

Then, we have Catherynne Valente. I liked this book a lot, but at the same time, I think I expected it to be better. She has a bit of a different writing style that might not be for everyone, but I still plan to read the sequel. In the Night Garden is still worth reading.

Then, we have a long list of books I never got around to reviewing: Brown Girl in the Ring (which I am scared to admit I can hardly remember), Beauty by Robin McKinley (she is a hit or miss author with me. I always end up enjoying her novels, but she is another author with an awkward writing style), The Book of Dead Days and The Foreshadowing are both by the same author (they both had interesting aspects to them, and I plan to read more from him this year), King's Prophecy by Morgan Howell (a book about orcs, which is not something I read much about, so I am intrigued with this trilogy. I really liked this first book). Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in a series I wish I had discovered long ago.

The last two reads of 2007 were also fantasy. They were two of my favourite reads, and I think they were probably my two favourite young adult books. In the top five anyways. They were The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray and The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint.



So, the top reads (in no particular order) are (in list form):
Beauty by Robin McKinley
The Rest Falls Away/Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Fool's Errand/The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
The Eagle's Brood by Jack Whyte
Dragons of the Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Stolen by Kelley Armstrong
Flight of the Nighthawks by Raymond Feist
The Briar King by Greg Keyes
The History of the Hobbit by John Rateliff

Young Adult Favourites:
The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke


Favourite New Author (to me): Robin Hobb
Favourite New Author (published first time): Colleen Gleason
Favourite Old Author: Jack Whyte, Patricia Briggs, and Libba Bray

You know, I think I might see where my reading started to slide. Most of the books I chose for my favourites happened in the first 100 books that I read this year. After that, there were a lot of really bad books and a lot of just average books. No wonder I struggled the second half of the year... There were other reasons too, but that would not help.

The Fantasy Review - Part One

My favourite genres for reading have always been fantasy and science fiction. I think science fiction probably came first, but as I have gotten older I have also added fantasy to the mix. Fantasy has sort of taken over as the dominant genre, but science fiction was always my first love. I think I started reading sci-fi when I started to notice I was quite a big fan of Star Trek on television. I also used to read a lot of Star Wars books. Ten years ago, I sort of moved away from the television-related science fiction and started to read some of the big name authors. I think this coincides with reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I probably read other sci-fi novels before that, but that is the one that stands out. For fantasy, I think the book that really started me on that path was Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I have always loved both genres, though, I did read Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia when I was younger, and those are two of my favourite series. A lot of why it took me so long to develop my reading interests was because I tried to be the 'cool' kid in school, but halfway through junior high I gave up caring and in many ways finally became me.

That is my long-winded intro to my post on reading fantasy and science-fiction in 2007.

So, in 2007 I started out my year with a brandnew book by a brandnew author: Colleen Gleason. This required me browsing the romance section, something that I never do, so it shows you how much I wanted to support her! The Rest Falls Away may not be high-brow literature, but she is much better than many of the other paranormal authors I have read. The author is a very nice woman, the romance is not too over-powering, and there is suspense. Works for me!

Next up, I FINALLY read Juliet Marillier. Wildwood Dancing is a fairy-tale retelling, and while not the best book ever and not everyones cup of tea, I found it enjoyable.

One Good Knight is the sequel to The Fairy Godmother, which I read the year before. It was good, but I enjoyed The Fairy Godmother much more. I hope to read the third book this year, if it ever decides when it is coming out in paperback! It was originally February, but when I went to order it with my Christmas money, it had been pushed back.

New Moon was another author that I had read before and decided to read the sequel to. Twilight was enjoyable, I read it last year, but I am finding Bella more and more annoying. It was good, but I have a hard time getting into the books in the series.

Another really good paranormal author is Patricia Briggs. I had read Moon Called by her in 2006, so I was very excited for the sequel in 2007. Just like I am very excited for book 3 in 2008. Mercedes Thompson is one of my favourite female fictional characters, and so far no trashy sex! Yay! (I am thinking Laurell K. Hamilton here.) Great series. Mercedes is a very strong woman who gets the job done, and while she is in all the books, the other focus paranormal group changes from book to book. One of my favs of 2007.

Lisa Tuttle's The Silver Bough was a fun book. I really must try her again sometime. Too bad it is not a real place, I wouldn't mind visiting there!

O.R. Melling has a fabulous series that I really must read the fourth book to this year. Then, I plan to back track and reread the books again because she has rereleased them with added things, and I want to see what is added! The Summer King and The Light-Bearer's Daughter are the two I read in 2007.

One of my favourite new authors of 2007 was Robin Hobb. I just decided it was time to read her and dug one of her books off my TBR pile. I just adore her writing style. She currently holds the place for my favourite fantasy author after reading Fool's Errand. Her books are long, but they do not feel long.

Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop is one of the books in her Black Jewels series. I want to love this series, but I am having a hard time with it. I will have to see what book 3 brings with it. I hopefully will read it this year.

The Eagle's Brood is a Jack Whyte novel. I am shocked at myself for only reading one book by him 2007! I really love this series, so I plan to try and read more than one book by him this year. I ended at such a bad time, too, because all the characters from the Arthurian legends have been set up, and I want to know what happens next! Maybe I will try and squeeze him in for January. One of my favs of 2007.

Holly Black's Valiant disappointed me. I have not decided yet if I want to read her next book.

I am so happy that I finally read Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I adore Tas, and I mean ADORE him. He is one of my favourite literary characters ever, and I look forward to reading more from this series this year. Dragons of the Autumn Twilight was the first time I have ever read Dragonlance, but it is very embarassing to admit how long the book was on my TBR pile. One of my favs from 2007.

Storm Front is the first book in Jim Butcher's Dresdan Files. I plan to read the whole series, and while I like it, it is also not my favourite series ever. I'll read one or two this year, no big rush.

I read a bit of Neil Gaiman this year. First up was Coraline by him. I have had this book for a couple years, so I am glad that I finally read it! While I enjoy him as an author, only Good Omens has ever super impressed me. I wonder what would have happened if I had read another book first... Well, Carl raves on about him, so I probably would have read the ones I have anyways. I did like Stardust, but he just doesn't blow me away.

I read a few books from Shannon Hale this year, as well. The Goose Girl, the first one I read, was probably my favourite. She is almost as good as Libba Bray, but Bray remains my favourite for the moment. And, no one can knock Madeleine L'Engle off my top spot, I am very loyal to her.

Then I read Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I really love the idea of this book. I can't wait to get to the sequel this year. Totally a favourite of 2007.

Flight of the Nighthawks is my first attempt at reading Raymond Feist. I am glad I started with this one, I like the characters grown up. I am finding myself getting more and more fed up with many books written about children. It is likely just a stage I am going through, but if I had started with a different book, I am afraid I would not have liked it as much.

I decided to start off with Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series instead of her adult books, I am not even totally sure why. Glass Houses was enjoyable. If I didn't finish the series, I would not be totally disappointed, but I like it. I plan to stick with it, and have book 3 ordered... actually, that did not come when I got my books last week. I must check that.

I read three Kelley Armstrong books in a row: Bitten, Stolen, and Dime Store Magic. I probably would have read more, but Dime Store Magic annoyed me. I needed to take a break after that. Stolen is probably my favourite right now, and if I had to choose, would be my favourite of 2007 in terms of her.

Greg Keyes is interesting. Sometimes his writing style really annoyed me, but The Briar King really stuck with me. It's surpring, frankly. I think I would have to call it a favourite of 2007, even if it annoyed me at times. I am excited to read the next book, but book 4 is only coming out in hardcover this year, which means I have to wait until 2009 for the paperback, so I am not rushing things.

Magician: Apprentice was Raymond Feist again. Like I said above, I like the characters when they are older better, but I plan to read all of his books eventually.

The Dream-Maker's Magic was the last book in a young adult trilogy by Sharon Shinn. The only Shinn I read this year, which is bad, considering I own all her books except the ones only out in hardcover... bad me! Good book, though.

Frank Beddor's debut, The Looking-Glass Wars was interesting. I liked it better than the original, but I have never really liked Carroll.

Thanks to Buy a Friend a Book week, I now own all of Roger Zelazny's Amber series. I really liked Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon, so I look forward to more in the series this year!

Okay, that's enough recap for now! The other half I will post tomorrow. I read more fantasy than I thought I did!

Best of 2007

I have had a very hard time with my list this year because I read a lot of really good books this year! Not very many ones I would give a perfect rating, but a lot of ones that got an almost perfect grade. I read 195 books in total, I might slip in one more before the clock strikes midnight, I am reading it right now. I will post a break down sort of post tomorrow, but for now. these are my top reads in no particular order:

1. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray - I just finished this on the weekend, and I loved it. I really think Libba Bray is my favourite young adult author at the moment. It was sad to see the trilogy end, but I really like the mixture of fantasy and historical fiction. It's not a trilogy for everyone, but this is my J.K. Rowlings.

2. 28: Stories of AIDs in Africa by Stephanie Nolen - I thought this book was brilliant when I read it. AIDs is a big problem in the world, and I learned a lot from this book. It was told from those that live with it everyday, it was their stories and not someone elses, and it really touched me. I think everyone needs to read this book to really appreciate the diverse world that we are living in.

3. Fool's Errand and The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb - I really have found that I love Robin Hobb. Her writing style has quickly made her my favourite new fantasy author of 2007. While she has been writing for quite some time, this is the first time I have read her, and I cannot wait to read more from her next year. I will be sad to read the last book in the trilogy, though.

4. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind - This book was another awesome fantasy novel. Goodkind was a really great author to read this year, but with the books being so long I can see it taking me quite some time to complete this series!

5. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran - One of my favourite historical fiction novels of the year. Nefertiti and her sister were very interesting characters to read about. I quite enjoyed the experience. It is also her first book, so I really look forward to what the second one, out later next year, has to offer.

6. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs - I love Mercedes Thompson. She is quickly becoming one of my favourite fictional characters. I cannot wait until the next book comes out.

7. The Josephine B. Trilogy by Sandra Gulland - I had no plans to undertake this trilogy this year. There was just a day when I needed something different to read, and this is the book I picked up. I finished the trilogy quickly, and it was a very powerful trilogy. I am excited for her new book this year.

8. The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason - I am very surprised to like these books, but I do. I am not very big into romance novels, and yet, I am very excited to read the new book in the series! Gleason is a really great author.

9. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin - I was surprised that I liked this book, but I did. I think that mysteries are not really my thing, but there was more to this book than just the mystery, so I found it really interesting. I am really excited for the sequel because I think the series has a lot of potential.

10.The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll - I also read The Huntress earlier this year, but I liked this one the best out of the two. I think that this was another surprising read, but I really liked the combination of the fantasy and historical fiction. Another author I am really excited for the next book by!

11.Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda - I love Alan Alda. I think the guy is hillarious, there is really no competition. I also read his other book this year, but this one was my favourite of the two.

12.The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - I loved the combination of art and story in this book. The pictures told the story as well as the words, and they were fantastically done. It's a great book!

13.The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - This is my favourite Hale book. I really like how she retells fairy tales. I read all of her young adult books this year except River Secrets, and with the exception of Enna Burning, I loved them all. Great book, though. I look forward to more from her.

14.Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - A book about books. Enough said! I really need to read the sequel soon. The third book will be out soon and the movie version, as well.

15. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters - I think Waters writes really well. I really need to read more from her because many consider this their least favourite by her, so I am excited to see the others by her.

16.Mister Pip by Lloyd James and Diversadero by Michael Ondaatje - My favourite of the Booker nominated books I read and my favourite of the Giller nominated books, respectively.

17.Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden - I loved this book! Genghis Khan has always intrigued me, and I think Iggulden did awesome with this book. The next one will be out soon, so I am excited.

18.Peony in Love by Lisa See - Sort of a mythological book. It was different than the usual books that I read, so I found it very intriguing.

19.The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - Totally different historical fiction because it covers a place, Iran, that hardly ever gets great books written about it. She did a really good job with this one.

20.Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - I am so mad it took me so long to read this book. It was very interesting and very well-written!

Catching Up on Reviews

In the last couple months I have gotten VERY slack on reviews. I am trying to catch up, to get as many reviewed as I can by the end of the month. This means that I will likely do a few posts that cover more than one book. I also updated my side-bar, so everything I have reviewed is now linked. The one thing I am thinking about in regards to the New Year is what to do with Twisted Kingdom. Two of the members no longer blog anymore, one has said she is not interested anymore, and the other pops in from time to time. I update it very sporadically lately, but if I could update it more in the New Year, it would be worth keeping. The factor is the If. I am not sure if I can update it more than I have been. Well, I hope to blog more than I have been this year period next year, mainly because I have fizzled off lately. I could always recruite people to help me out, would anyone be interested in that? I am going to think about it long and hard in the next week or so, maybe even see what I am capable of into January and then decide from there. I can't just delete it, so I am hoping I can find time for it.

In the meantime, I did update it today. I reviewed Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia Wrede, Mirror Universe: Glass Empires by Various Authors, and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It has been months since I read these three books, so the reviews are very short. It is basically me trying to say at least something about as many books as I can between now and the 31st when I start afresh and hopefully am more organized. To read the reviews, head on over to Twisted Kingdom.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Okay, I am taking Sassymonkey's advice and catching up on some of my reviews this way. I will write in more depth later on some of them, but there is my start.

The Good:
Born on a Blue Day
Mirror Universe: Glass Empires
Something from the Nightside
Agents of Light and Darkness
Golden Fool
Un Lun Dun
Anil's Ghost
Swing Low
Christine Kringle
Natasha and Other Stories
Three Day Road
Artemis Fowl
The Book Without Words
North River
lullabies for little criminals
Brown Girl in the Ring
Beauty
Boo Humbug
for one more day

The Bad:
Rosie's Little Cautionary Tales for Girls
Soucouyant
Touchy Subjects

The Ugly:
Suth's Story
Why we Read what we Read
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Peggy of the Cove
Letters from Pemberley

October in Review

So, October was my least productive reading month of the year. In the end, I only read 12 books. It was just a busy month and I never seemed to be able to find the time to read! Hopefully November and December are a bit better.

I started off the month with my favourite read of the month, The Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden. It was a really good book, one of my favourite of the year. If you get a chance to read it, you should.

Then I moved on to China Mieville's new book, Un Lun Dun. It came out earlier this year. I have not reviewed it yet, but I did think it was a cute book. He also illustrated it, so it had fun pictures.

I read three Giller-nominated books. Two that made the short list: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay and A Secret Between Us by Daniel Poliquin. Then, I read Soucouyant by David Chariandy. This book made the long-list of the Giller, but it is also in the short-list for the Governor General's Award. It was a good book, but I really think there were other books that should have made the short list. If A Secret Between Us won the Giller, I would be happier about that than if Late Nights on Air did. If Soucouyant wins, I will be left wondering why. It is a good book, but not great.

The rest of the books I read are:

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. I have had this book for a while, but I was never fond of In the Skin of a Lion, so I kept putting the reading of anymore books by him off. Then, I read Diversidero because it is nominated for a Giller, and I found that I liked him after all.

Swing Low: A Life by Miriam Toews. I bought this after reading A Complicated Kindness, but just did not get to it before now. It is a book about what life must have been like for her elderly father who was forgetting and suffering from manic depression. It was a very interesting read.

I read a biography of Shakespeare, which I have never done before. It was Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson. I had also never read Bill Bryson before, but had always meant to. It was very interesting. Most of I had heard before because we really do not know very much about Shakespeare, but it was an interesting read nonetheless.

Christmas came early in book form. I read Christine Kringle by Lynn Brittany. It was a very enjoyable and cute book! I will be reviewing it soon, and as soon as I have the time to do so, I will be interviewing the author on my blog.

I am clearing out my Shannon Hale to-be-read pile. I only have River Secrets left because I read Princess Academy this month. I think if I read River Secrets by the end of the year I will have read all of Shannon Hale's young adult books in one year.

I read one of the Canada Reads nominees that I had been trying to read this year: Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis. It was good, about an immigrant family living in Canada. I also read Set the Seas on Fire, which is a science fiction novel set during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a good read.

The best thing about only reading 12 books is that I liked them all, there are none that I could say were really bad.

Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay

Date Completed: October 10, 2007
Pages: 364
Publication Year: 2007 (McClelland & Stewart)
Received from McClelland & Stewart in 2007.

Reason for Reading: I have started with my Giller-a-thon again. I have been crazy busy lately, and October has not been a good reading month.

The eagerly anticipated novel from the bestselling author of A Student of Weather and Garbo Laughs.

Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small radio station in the Canadian North. There, in Yellowknife, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a voice on air, though the real woman, Dido Paris, is both a surprise and even more than he imagined.

Dido and Harry are part of the cast of eccentric, utterly loveable characters, all transplants from elsewhere, who form an unlikely group at the station. Their loves and longings, their rivalries and entanglements, the stories of their pasts and what brought each of them to the North, form the centre. One summer, on a canoe trip four of them make into the Arctic wilderness (following in the steps of the legendary Englishman John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the barrens in 1927), they find the balance of love shifting, much as the balance of power in the North is being changed by the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which threatens to displace Native people from their land.

Elizabeth Hay has been compared to Annie Proulx, Alice Hoffman, and Isabel Allende, yet she is uniquely herself. With unforgettable characters, vividly evoked settings, in this new novel, Hay brings to bear her skewering intelligence into the frailties of the human heart and her ability to tell a spellbinding story. Written in gorgeous prose, laced with dark humour, Late Nights on Air is Hay’s most seductive and accomplished novel yet, and is already garnering interest abroad.

This book became short-listed for the Giller when I was reading it. This is the first time I have read Elizabeth Hay, although I have heard of her before. I did not know that had been nominated for a Giller before, though. Some people really want her to win this time around. I personally did not love this book, I still like the Ondaatje better, but it would be nice if someone relatively unknown won this time around. People like Ondaatje and Vassanji do not need more publicity, people are going to read them anyways.

One thing about this book was it was the first time I have read a book set up North in a while. It is always interesting to read books set up there because I have never been there before, and in many ways it is the 'exotic' setting to Canada. This novel is about a group of people that find themselves in Yellowknife and working at a radio station. This was before the television was available up there, so radio is the most popular form of entertainment up there. It is how the North keeps track of the outside world. This book is about more than radio, though. It is about the lives of the people in the novel. The book is told by many different people, so you get to see many story lines from several different viewpoints.

Hay talks about the history and the people. For me, the history lessons were very interesting. There are a few things I would like to read more about in the future. Harry is the character that in many ways brings all the characters in this book together. He has just moved back to Yellowknife after his stint on television did not work out. That summer he finds himself in charge of the radio station, and in love with a voice on the radio. The rest of the characters are added as time goes on through interactions with Harry and with the characters that Harry brings alive in the novel. There is Dido, the woman that seems to have everything going for her, but you soon find that things are not always as perfect for her as it seems. There are still a few things I wonder about in regards to her character. Opinions I had on her that were never really elaborated on, so I am left wondering if I saw things correctly.

One of the things to remember about life up North is that most of the people that live there are transplants. Very rarely are they actually born there, so they just find their way there. Harry is there after a failed job attempt, Dido is there after failed love, etc. Overall, a good book. I would not be disappointed to see it win the Giller, but it is still not my favourite. I also still have a few more books to read before I make my final opinion.

I do recommend this book! To check out all the details, click here.

Cesar's Way and Be the Pack Leader by Cesar Millan

Completion Date: September 2007
Pages: CW: 320; BaPL: 336
Publication Years: 2007
Received both from Random House in 2007.

Reason for Reading: Two books for the Four-Legged Friends Reading Challenge and because I like dogs.

Instead of posting the book descriptions for two books, go here to read more about Cesar's Way and here to read more about Be the Pack Leader.

I no longer have a dog, so I do not really have a reason for dog handlers books, but I have always wanted to read Cesar Millan and figured that now was as good a time as any. While reading the books, I read that dogs are a mirror of you. That was interesting to me, because when I asked someone what Sandy said about me, they said that I must have selective hearing. You see, Sandy listened to me, but others had to battle with her to get her to listen at times. I'd like to think that instead of this being a mirror, I was just a good pack leader sometimes.

So, of course I was reading this book more to see where I succeeded and failed with Sandy. I learned that her fear of thunder should have been handled differently. Sandy has always been scared of thunder, I am not sure where the fear started from, but I think it was likely when she was a puppy and my father wanted to try her out for duck hunting. After that, she was very fearful of loud noises and she only went hunting one season. When she was younger she was scared of her food dish if it was metal and it banged on a hard surface. I do not remember cuddling her about it, but it likely happened. I do know that we never stopped using the dish, just sometimes when it happened several times in a row we would move it to a soft surface. Her bigger problem was that Shelby would steal her food. We probably did not introduce the two dogs together very well, because the early years were all power struggles. Like when Shelby took Sandy out into the woods and she came back, but she was missing a puppy. Shelby was such a calm and obedient dog, it is almost funny to remember the times when she was bad.

One of the things that Cesar goes into great detail about is the correct way to walk your dog. I used to use a choker chain when Sandy was younger, and Shelby had one too, but I always felt bad using them. The dogs would listen, and I could control them when it was on them, but I think I felt a great deal of guilt because of the name. Honestly, they need to rename them because no one wants to think they are choking their dogs with it! Needless to say, when Sandy got older I got her a regular collar. I think I probably had more control with that anyways because I felt more comfortable with it than with a choker. Cesar says that you should leave the house first to have control over the situation. I did not do this. I normally would let Sandy run around the yard and then when we got to the end of the driveway I would take over control. Sandy would walk beside me and all that. She would not bark at other dogs or chase cats or anything. The only issue she had was she would pick up food that she found on the side of the road... But, I am not perfect. There is a big field at the end of the my street that I used to let her run around on. She would always come back to me... unless there was a skunk. I had never seen a skunk spray before until that day. Right in the poor dogs face, too! That was an interesting day.

I was thinking a lot about the energy things. When my father lived her and my brother, Sandy was a lot more stressed than she has been the last few years. My father and brother have explosive tempers and when they lose them, Sandy would fly out of the room. It could be why she didn't like thunder. Anyways, when they moved out she was not as skiddish. Actually, the year that my brother ended up moving out was the one and only time that Sandy bit someone! It was Tom, and I had never seen Sandy bite before. I am not sure what my brother did, he had been playing with the dog just before that, but I was just shocked that she actually bite him! Neither Sandy or Shelby were encouraged in their biting as puppies, so I probably will always remember the night Sandy bit Tom, mostly becuase it was such a strange thing for her to do.

So, I learned that the dog that I thought was good, was not really that good after all. She did not have what I consider major problems, but by reading this book I discovered that my pack leader skills need some work. It doesn't help when she is in a house with several people and they are all telling her different things. She followed my rules though... unless someone else was with her, and then that is when the bad stories would surface. Like I would let the dog on the couch with me when I was reading, but otherwise she could only sleep on the floor or in her chair. My mother used to have battles with Sandy to get off the couch. Sandy was allowed to sleep on my bed ONLY if her blanket was on it. She was buried with one of her blankets. Otherwise she slept on her blanket on the floor, and that was all she could get to when she got older. Sandy also started randomly barking when she wanted to come in. Cesar Millan would say that we had to let the dog in when we wanted to, not when she wanted to come in. I say that if Sandy did not bark, my mother would have forgotten she let her out. Many times I would come home to a dog waiting outside for me, and my mother totally having forgot that Sandy was out there.

So, Sandy was not perfect, but she always was not Marley from Marley and Me. She might have had some issues that I did not think of working on, but overall, she did not have a terrible life. By reading these two books and comparing them with Sandy, though, I hope to have an even better dog the next time around. In the meantime, I saw a dog yesterday and I did not handle it the Cesar way, but I hate not having a dog. It is why I have lapses, but these dogs are huge and they almost knocked me over. I am trying to decide if the person would take it the wrong way if I gave her Cesar's books... One of the dogs bites and they are both really hyper. I would hate for them to have to lose them because they bit the mailman or something.

Anyways, Cesar's Way is more of a memoir-type look at dog handling and Be the Pack Leader is a self-help book and a dog training book. Millan wants readers to see their dogs as animals and not as their babies. I suppose I did see Sandy as more than just my dog, but I don't think I treated her like a baby. I would talk about her to other people differently than I would talk to her. And, I did talk to her a great deal. It might not be the Cesar way, but it was not so much that I was more comfortable with Sandy than with other people, it was more than I could tell her things and she was not going to repeat them! It is nice to have a secret-keeping dog.

September in Review

September has come and gone, and now on this early October morning, I have to share my reading experiences. Well, I do not have to, I want to. The biggest problem with this being October is I am very very far behind on my reviews, I still have books from August to review. I will hopefully begin working on this starting later today. So, on to September. I read 18 books this month. Some were really good, while others were really bad. My favourite read for the month is hard to choose. So, my top five (in no particular order) were:

Mister Pip
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda
Golden Fool by Robin Hobb

The break-down. I read four sci-fi/fantasy books:
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (for the Cardathon)
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green (for the R.I.P Challenge)
Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green (for the R.I.P. Challenge)
Golden Fool by Robin Hobb (Counts for the Cardathon Challenge)

I read some non-fiction, which I seem to be doing very well at lately. I read:
Why We Read What We Read (Which actually greatly disappointed me)
Baptism of Fire (Really interesting)
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda
Be the Pack Leader by Cesar Millan
Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan
The Staircase Letters
The Dangerous Book for Dogs (A parody, but does have truthful information)

I read two of the books short-listed for the Booker:
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (If this book wins, I am never following the Bookers again)
Mister Pip (I hope this book wins. It's my favourite of the three I have read, and the only reason I have not read the other three is because one just became available, one takes several weeks to ship, and one is not available. So, I read what I could easily read.)

I read a few Canadian books:
Baptism of Fire
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje (for my Giller-a-thon)
October by Richard Wright (for my Giller-a-thon)
The Staircase Letters

(More Giller-a-thon in October, I got a bit side-tracked!)

The other books I read were:
Mademoiselle Victorine (Horrible book)
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (started off slow but was really good by the end)
Peony in Love by Lisa See (Great historical fiction book)

Challenge Break-down:
2 Giller-a-thon books (Diversadero and October)
3 R.I.P. Books (I hope to read more in October. I just was not in the right mood for this genre last month).
2 Cardathon Books (Ender's Game and Golden Fool)
3 Four-Legged Friends Books (Cesar's Way, Be a Pack Leader, and The Dangerous Book for Dogs)

My least favourite reads of the month...
Mademoiselle Victorine
Why we Read What we Read
The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Biggest disappointment of the month?
October by Richard Wright. (Do not get me wrong, I really liked that book, but I have been reading him for years, I always get excited about his new books, but I cannot seem to get into them. I keep expecting a book that is better than his Giller and Governor General winning book, and I have not seen it yet. But, until I do, I will keep reading!)

I will review the books that I have not reviewed already sometime soon!

This month was interesting. I seem to have bailed on the R.I.P. challenge. The thought of some of those books just did not work for me last month. I hope to read a few more this month, but not sure how that will work out.

The biggest thing in September was losing Sandy. I am still having some issues with that. Things are getting better, but when I wake up in the morning I still have moments where I expect her to be there. Then I wake up fully, and I am sad. Sometimes that will happen through the day, I will have moments where I hear things and think 'that's just Sandy doing something' and then it will register with me that she is not making that noise. It has been hard. I also lost two cats, too, and I have similar moments with that. I come home at night and there is no cat to let in, I don't use the top of the dryer because that is where their food dish used to be (habit), etc. I am still not used to having such a quiet house.

So, it would not be fair to review the month without the final good byes.

Snowball
14 Years Old
February 1993-September 2007

Sam
15 Years Old
May 1992-September 2007

Sandy ('Rascal')
12 Years Old
August 1995-September 2007
(Also included in above picture are 'Baby' Atra and 'Baby' Miko)

September was a horrible month. I have had all three of those animals since they were really little, and I was not that old either. I picked them out, named them (well, I called Sandy 'Rascal', but my father named her), and cared for them for years. Thanks to everyone for all your well-wishes! At least I have my challenge going on!

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Date Completed: September 23, 2007
Pages: 272
Publication Year: 2007
Received from Random House.

Reason for Reading: Short-listed for the 2007 Booker Prize.

After the trouble starts and the soldiers arrive on Matilda’s island, only one white person stays behind. Mr. Watts, whom the kids call Pop Eye, wears a red nose and pulls his wife around on a trolley, and he steps in to teach the children when there is no one else. His only lessons consist of reading from his battered copy of Great Expectations, a book by his friend Mr. Dickens.

For Matilda, Dickens’s hero Pip becomes as real to her as her own mother, and the greatest friendship of her life has begun. Soon Mr. Watts’s book begins to inflame the children’s imaginations with dreams about Dickens’s London and the larger world. But how will they answer when the soldiers demand to know: where is this man named Pip?

Set against the stunning beauty of Bougainville in the South Pacific during the civil war in the early 1990s, Lloyd Jones’s breathtaking novel shows what magic a child’s imagination makes possible even in the face of terrible violence and what power stories have to fuel the imagination.

When this book was first put on the long-list for the Bookers, I was not sure if it was going to be something that I want to read, but I really like Great Expectations, so I thought I should see what I thought about this book. I am so glad that I did. There were a few moments during the book that I was not really sure about, but they all came together into one of the best books that I have read this year. I have only read one other Booker book, On Chesil Beach, so I am not in any place to judge this in the grand scheme of things, but if this book won I think it would deserve it.

Set on a South Pacific Island, civil war comes to play with a blockade that keeps the people on the island isolated from the outside world. For many people, this is how life is anyways, they do not go anywhere. With the blockade, the teachers have left the island, so the children are left with no schooling. There is one white man left on the island, he met an islander when she was in Australia and ended up coming to the island with her after she goes through some difficult periods in her life. He becomes the island teacher. Life is hard for these children, but when they are in the classroom with their teacher he transports them to Victorian England through the pages of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. These children are transformed, they are so captured by the novel that they think of Pip as a friend that they know.

Set during a war, there is a lot more than just a class reading a novel going on, and I think that Lloyd James does a wonderful job combining several themes. Told by an islander named Matilda, she captures an isolated world through the eyes of a young black girl that. until she is older, has never stepped off an island. Race issues are also at play during this novel.

This book was really good!

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda

Date Completed: September 22, 2007
Pages: 224
Publication Year: 2007
Received from Random House in 2007.

Reason for Reading: It was a must read after reading his other memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, earlier this year.

On the heels of his acclaimed memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, beloved actor and bestselling author Alan Alda has written Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, an insightful and funny look at some of the impossible questions he’s asked himself over the years: What do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)

Picking up where his bestselling memoir left off–having been saved by emergency surgery after nearly dying on a mountaintop in Chile–Alda finds himself not only glad to be alive but searching for a way to squeeze the most juice out of his new life. Looking for a sense of meaning that would make this extra time count, he listens in on things he’s heard himself saying in private and in public at critical points in his life–from the turbulence of the sixties, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, to the ache of September 11, and beyond. Reflecting on the transitions in his life and in all our lives, he notices that “doorways are where the truth is told,” and wonders if there’s one thing–art, activism, family, money, fame–that could lead to a “life of meaning.”

In a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself.

I do not know what it is about Alan Alda, but I have always liked him as an actor. I was not really around when M*A*S*H was on television, but yet I have always liked Alda. I watched him when he guest starred on ER and West Wing, watched reruns of his old show, and now I have read both of his memoirs. I am not even a big fan of comedians. I like humour that is believable, and for some reason I mostly find the humour on television what it is obviously is; fake. That is not to say that I do not laugh, I just do not necessarily like all the shows that other people like to make themselves laugh with.

This book takes place right where the last one leaves off, but it does not only talk about the couple of years following that experience, he goes back and talks about things that he did not mention in his previous books. He really does talk to himself in this book, and not in the way that makes people crazy, but by talking about speeches he has made throughout his career. Instead of just hearing what the audience heard, he interjects and talks about what he was thinking and why he said what he said. I have to say, some of his speeches were amazingly poignant, but yet funny at exactly the same time. This book will make you think while you laugh. It was also refreshing to see that me and Alan share some of the same ideals about how the world should be, and he is at least 40 years my senior.

He gives speeches at university convocations, and talks to the adults of tomorrow. He writes speeches for scientists, actors, and just regular people. He talks about his experiences with the 9/11 disaster, moments with his children and grandchildren, and other things that strike his fancy. He also talks about his wife, who he has been with for a great deal of time. I found this book very enjoyable, a nice balance of the serious with the humourous. I actually can say that I learned a lot from this book by thinking of it from a different perspective.

I recommend this book!

Giller-a-thon: Book Number One: Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Completion Date: September 18, 2007
Publication Year: 2007
Pages: 273
Received from Random House in 2007

Reason for Reading: My attempt to read as many of the Giller-nominated books as possible before the short-list is announced.

Michael Ondaatje's eagerly anticipated new novel, Divisadero, unravels a haunting story that ranges from northern California to central France, introducing characters who become part of our own lives. Divisadero brings together all of the elements for which Michael Ondaatje's fiction is celebrated.

When I started this book earlier today, I was not sure if I was going to like it, but as the book got going I was hooked. It is probably obvious in the fact that I read it in a matter of hours. I have only read one other Michael Ondaatje book, but now I plan to move his other books up the the to-be-read pile. I immensely enjoyed this book.

I find myself trying to pinpoint why I was captured with this book, and it is hard to put my finger on it. I liked the writing style. Not too much description that you got bogged down, but not so little that you were not aware of what was going on. I really liked how all the little pieces came together and how the lives of the characters were related not just by knowing each other, but just by moments that occurred in more than one life. The most unrelated characters could be so much the same in just a few pages, surprising me in how they came together so easily.

This book starts out being about two sisters and their adopted handyman. He was never thought of as their brother, but their father did in fact bring him in and raise him. At the onset of a storm, though, this happy unity is destroyed and the characters are pushed out into the world to create their own stories. The two sisters, Claire and Anna, and the handyman, Cooper, would appear again to tell their stories. Their lives would become intertwined with other characters that would lead to more stories being told. In many ways, this is not a predicatable book at all. There is thought behind each line and sentence that goes far in making a very brilliant framework for a story that is only revealed to the reader as they flip through the pages.

This book is relatively short, just under 300 pages, but the reader gets the chance to be caught up in a story that I was very sad to see end. It will leave you thinking as you flip to the last page, and it will capture you in such a way that you do not want to put it down. Ondaatje is a literary genius in many ways, and I look forward to reading the rest of his books.

My Giller-a-thon is off to a very good start!

Other Reviews I Posted Recently:
A Book I Recommed: Baptism of Fire by Nathan Greenfield.
One I Do Not Recommend: Mademoiselle Victorine

August in Review

So, in August I read 18 books. I am behind in reviews, though, so I have not reviewed 18 books. This brings me up to 142 books for year, which is not a bad number at all!

This was sort of Star Trek month. I read a lot of books from that series. I used to read the books all the time about ten years ago. I am not even sure what inspired me to pick the series back up, but I did. My first voyage back into Star Trek was a Next Generation book, The Battle of Betazed. It was a very nice return to a series I have always had a fond spot for. Then, I read A Time to Born which is the first book in a Next Generation mini-series that I have always wanted to read. I read a novelization of the very last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, All Good Things... I have always had a fond spot for this episode, so I am happy to finally read the book. I also started a Star Trek series that I had never read before, The New Frontier series.

In August I read the first four books in the series, and I really enjoyed them: House of Cards, Into the Void, The Two-Front War, and End Game. I read a book in Star Trek: The Next Generation that goes after the last movie, Nemesis, called Death in Winter. It tied up some loose ends left over from that movie. I also checked in with the Voyager crew to read two books that happen after they get back from the Delta Quadrant: Home-Coming and The Father Shore. And, lastly, I read a collection of related stories that take place in the time of Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was called Mirror Universe: Glass Empires. It has a sequel about the other three series (including Star Trek: New Frontier) that I look forward to reading.

Other than that, I read these books:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (cannot wait to read Peony in Love)
The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber
Vivaldi's Virgins by Barbara Quick
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (a reread)
Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls by Danielle Wood (not a big fan of this book, not reviewed)
Suth's Story by Peter Dickinson (not a fan of this either, review forth-coming)


So, the Star Trek books were fun and enjoyable reads. My favourite read of the month is probably Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I always enjoy C.S. Lewis, and the Daniel Tammet book was interesting. Everything else was just okay or really bad. If I did not read Star Trek this month it would have been a mostly mediocre month.

July in Review

July was a very slow month reading-wise. I just had a very hard time finding time to read lately.

The Complete List:
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
Swordbird
Moonrise by Erin Hunter
The History of the Hobbit: Mr. Baggins
The Huntress by Susan Carroll
Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong

For such a small pile, for me anyways, I read some really good books. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind was really good. I cannot wait to get around to the next book in the series. The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey was a very interesting retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The History of the Hobbit: Mr. Baggins was really really worthwhile. I cannot wait to read the sequel. The Huntress was a book I had been waiting for for a while, and I was really happy with it. The Kitchen Boy was a very interesting book about the last Czar and his family and The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor was a very good Canadian history book.

Then, there were the rest of the books. Some of them were okay, like Dragons of the Winter Night, but some of them were really bad, like Luck in the Shadows.

Thoughts on a Tuesday

So, my friend had her baby a week ago today, so that means that she is a week old today. Yep, she had a girl. Her name is Jasmine Arianna, but I am afraid I do not have any details passed that. I have not heard from her at all since before she was due, so I have not even seen a picture. Anyways, for those that were wondering, she had her baby. I only found out on the weekend and this is the first time I have had to really post since then.

On another note, I have two reviews posted, but on my other two blogs. I posted a review of The Huntress by Susan Carroll on Historical Tapestry. While not as good as the previous three books, it was still a great read and I cannot wait for more in the series. To head over there directly, click here. Then on Twisted Kingdom you can read a review of The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe. To head over there, click here.

Other than that, not much to post about. Just trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, which is actually a big thing and stressing me out, but in any case. Other than that, I am just reading. Tolkien is good, very hyper, though, he just fell off the counter. The other cats are very unfriendly, so hopefully they get used to the kitten soon! Oh, and I am organizing my bookshelves. That's actually a lot more difficult than I would have thought.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Completion Date: July 2007
Pages: 276
Publication Year: 2006
Owned Prior to 2007

Reason for Reading: Nicholas Sparks is the author that I pick up when I want something light and uncomplicated.

When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets the girl of his dreams. Savannah Lynn Curtis is attending college in North Carolina,
working for Habitat for Humanity, and totally unprepared for the passionate attraction she feels for John Tyree. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty, and John realizing that he's ready to settle down with the young woman who has captured his heart. Neither can foresee that 9/11 is about to change the world and will force John to risk every hope and dream that he's ever had. Like so many proud men and women, John must choose between love and country. And like all those left behind, Savannah must decide to wait
or move on. How do we choose wisely? How can we face loss-without giving up on love? Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover that loving Savannah will force him to make the hardest decision of his life. An extraordinary, moving story, Dear John explores the complexities of love -- how it survives time and heartbreak, and how it transforms us forever.

It is always weird to even me that I read Nicholas Sparks. He is not my normal read at all, and even though I like some of his books, he is not an author that I can say that I love. I just enjoy reading a book from him once in a while. I only started reading him when The Notebook came to theatres. I really liked the movie, so I bought the book, and then I read all his backlog soon after. I still have to read True Believer and At First Sight, and he has a new book coming out in September, The Choice. Of all the books that I have read by him, though, I do not think anything will beat The Notebook, although I also really liked The Guardian and The Wedding. Those are my three favourite Nicholas Spark novels.

Anyways, I have not been super impressed with the last few books by Sparks. I used to like his books because they had a story outside the romance and he wrote less conventional romance novels, but the last few have been rather dull. This one was okay, but nothing like his earlier sort of writing. The storyline was pretty basic. Guy meets girl, guy and girl fall in love, bad things happen, and nothing that they dream will happen, happens. I think it is very valiant to work in the army, but this book made me think should love of country come so strongly above your family and your own happiness. It's a difficult line to walk and more a rhetorical question than anything else.

So, an okay read, but not by far the best thing I read this month. I also say that there are better Nicholas Sparks books so if you want to read him and are looking for a good start, go back to his earlier stuff. He also has a book about himself growing up and a trip he took with his brother that is very worthwhile.

Just in case you want to know: I posted a review of The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey on Historical Tapestry. (Click here).

Two Reviews

I actually posted reviews, but not on here.

On Twisted Kingdom, I posted a review of Dragons of the Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Now the people know that the dragon minions of Takhisis, Queen of Dragons, have returned. The people of all nations prepare to fight to save their homes, their lives, and their freedom. But the races have long been divided by hatred and prejudice. Elven warriors and human knights fight among themselves. It seems the battle has been lost before it begins.

The companions are separated, torn apart by war. A full season will pass before they meet again--if they meet again. As the darkness deepens, a disgraced knight, a pampered elfmaiden, and a rattle-brained kender stand alone in the pale winter sunlight.

Not much in the way of heroes.

To read the review, click here.

On Historical Tapestry, I posted a review of The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander.

Though the events are almost a century old, the imprisonment and execution of Tsar Nicholas and his family still hold an aura of mystery that fascinates. In haunting prose, Robert Alexander retells the story through the eyes of Leonka, on the kitchen boy to the Romanovs, who claims to be the last living witness to the family's brutal execution. Mysteriously spared by the Bolsheviks, the boy vanished into the bloody tides of the Russian Revolution. Now, through Alexander's conjuring, he reemerges to tell his story. What did the young boy see in those last days of the Imperial Family? Does he have answers to long-standing questions about secret letters smuggled to the Tsar, thirty-eight pounds of missing tsarist jewels, and why the bodies of two Romanov children are missing from the secret grave discovered in 1991?

To read the review, click here.

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

On July 10th, 2007, Nefertiti by Michelle Moran will be hitting stores! Be sure and pick up your copy as soon as you can! This post, the review I wrote back when I read this book, starts Michelle Moran Week. She will be guest posting on my blog Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.


Books Completed: 40
Completion Date: March 2007
Publication Year: 2007
Pages: 480
Received an Advanced Reading Copy in 2007

I was so happy to get the chance to read this book. I am writing this review in March, but if you are reading this, it means that it is almost July 10th when the book is released in hardcover.

I have to say, I have not been having much luck lately with quality historical fiction books, so when I was offered this book I was worried that the trend would continue. I love Egyptian history, so a fiction book on the subject always interests me. Over the last few years I have been disappointed with the novels pertaining to this subject matter, so it is about time a book came out that I picked up and could hardly put down!

This book tells the story of Nefertiti, who would go on to be Pharoah of Egypt, and her sister. It is her sister that tells the tale of her life and what life was like for her sister during this time period. Nefertiti is full of ambition, and the moment that she has the chance to marry the man who would eventually become the pharaoh of Egypt, she is determined that nothing or no one will stand in her way. This is unfortunate in a sense to the narrator of this book because she spends her life in her sisters shadow. Her sister wants no one but her, so in the meantime her sister has to always be at her call.

Nefertiti was an ambitious queen. Her family put her into power with the hopes that she would influence the pharoah to keep life the way that it has been before, but Nefertiti will do what she needs to do to remain in power. She is determined to not lose it and to be a ruler in her own right. The book mostly concentrates on Nefertiti, but it is also a novel about living in your sisters shadow. It takes the narrator quite a long time to move away from her sister and have a life of her own. She suffers a lot of hardships in answer to her sisters ambition. Nefertiti would jeopardize anything her sister wants in order to have what she wants, so it takes the narrator a long time to gain her independance.

I love this book, I think everyone should read it because it touches so many bases. It is an adventure novel because Nefertiti overcomes great odds to become a great pharaoh. It is a love story: love of country, love of family, love of gods and goddesses, and the love of lovers. It is a tale of two sisters trying to find their own destinies while still being as close as they were when they were children. It is a novel of power and overcoming great obstacles. It will attract any reader.

One of my favourite reads of the year!

The Ladies' Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer

Completion Date: June 2007
Pages:
Publication Year: 2007
Received from Harper Collins in 2007

Reason for Reading: This book is one of Harper Collins recommended summer reads, and I can see it being a very popular book for the beach.

In the summer of 1963, the year of the release of Cleopatra, the most sensational movie ever made, the women of Kalyna Beach prepare for their annual end-of season party. Sonia Martyn and her four daughters are part of a group of first generation Ukrainian Canadians, newly minted middle-class families claiming their small part of the cottage-country dream. With their husbands away in the city all week, the women's days are ruled by the predictable rhythms of children and chores, lightened by the 'racy' books they trade amongst themselves and by their Friday afternoon gatherings for gin and gossip, heightened by their obsession with the deliciously scandalous love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Their tightly bound world is straining with its own dramas and secrets. Sonia, a former fashion model, mourns the death of her mother and fights with her difficult eldest daughter. Elusive Nadia, the wife of a millionaire, longs for a life she cannot have. Sharp-tongued, sophisticated Sasha plays a dangerous game in both challenging and shoring-up the traditional Ukrainian community and its defining values. And for adolescent Laura, her sisters and their friends, the rifts and fissures that appear in the once impregnable 'world of the mothers' will unleash a startling series of betrayals and discoveries. For this is the summer when everything will change for the girls and women of Kalyna Beach, as innocence is exchanged for a new understanding of the possibilities open to them all. In setting her characters against the backdrop of the turbulent sixties, Janice Kulyk Keefer creates a radiant portrait of women caught between countries, cultures and aspirations. Richly evocative, beautifully told, The Ladies' Lending Library will resonate with more than women and book club members; it's a story for anyone who has longed for the sweet and heady days of bygone summers and the risky promises of change.

I think this book would make a wonderful summer read, but it did not work for me. I do not think it was necessarily the book, it was me, I just had read so many bad books around it that I just could not get into this one. I think lots of people will like it, and read it on the beach, but not me! The big thing is that I just read it last week or so and I cannot remember much that happened in this book. The introduction was promising, a book about books was revealed, but as the story unfolded I just lost interest. The story was dull, I could not relate to the characters. I think by the introduction I was expecting a different sort of book than the one that I ended up with.

There is not much else I can say, it just did nt attract me at all.

City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin

Completion Date: June 2007
Pages: 432
Publication Year: 2007
Purchased in 2007

Reason for Reading: I really liked Mistress of the Art of Death by the same author, so I had hopes that this one would be good as well.

A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern émigré with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice.

. . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . .

This is 1922 Berlin.

One of the troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick, and she's being drawn against her will into his scheme to pass a young asylum patient off as Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of all Russia. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted—and this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die.

It is rather sad when you read a book by an author and really enjoy it, but when you go to read another book by the same author, you find that you did not like it at all. This was the case with City of Shadows. I really liked Mistress of the Art of Death when I read it earlier in the month, but when I went to read this one, I found myself getting bored. The writing did not draw me in and I had to force my way to the end.

First up, the back of the book, all of that happens in the first half of the book. It makes it looked like some drawn out affair, but all that happened and then there was still half of the book left to wait and see how everything would turn out. My first major problem with the book, it could have been way shorter! I just found she drew stuff out way too much, and I got bored because I wanted the book to end all ready!

My second problem with the book was how predictable it was! The people that died, had that figured out; the ending, predictable; boy meets girl, predictable; etc. I did not like the cop. He became one of the main characters, and let me put this down for everyone. He might as well have solved the entire case in ten pages because the guy had everything figured out about Esther and her friends before that many pages have turned. There was no challenge. He was pompous and annoying, like give the dog a bone, he did more in a few pages than the book had in 100.

That being said, the book has a very good idea behind it, but I just did not like the way that it was played out. I think even now, almost 100 years later, people would still love for one of the Romanov's to have survived that fateful shooting and have gone on to lead a very normal life. Franklin looks at one such pretender to the Romanov throne. Many people truly believed she was Anastasia in real life, until DNA tests proved otherwise, so for Franklin to write a book about it, it really interested me. It is too bad it was carried out so badly.

Parting Thoughts: I suggest that people watch the cartoon movie Anastasia. I do not believe it is Disney, but it has a much more interesting character vying for the throne. It is much better than this book, in any case, which will be making its way to the second-hand store very soon.

I POSTED A REVIEW OF SMOKE AND MIRRORS by Neil Gaiman on TWISTED KINGDOM today. You can read it by clicking here