Books...???
Ok, so the last time I updated my book list was in July... I've read a lot of books since then. I'm just way behind in updating.
Geist (Book of the Order, #1)
author
Ballantine, Philippa
A protagonist in her 30’s? Who smokes? Awesome! Now if only she were more like-able. The support characters do a lot to make up for that fact though. I found myself frustrated that we didn’t get to spend more time and focus with them.
I also wanted to hear more about the setting. It’s is really fascinating, and in some ways reminded me of Sabriel http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2496546.Sabriel I also want to know more about the Order of the Deacons.
Paladin of Souls (Chalion, #2)
author
Bujold, Lois McMaster
It has been a long time since I read The Curse of Chalion. So long, in fact, that it was before I was keeping track of the books I read. Luckily anything that you need is covered. I was pleased that the protagonist wasn’t a late teens/early 20’s girl, but was a mature woman. It’s a nice change, and Bujold does it well. I also appreciate how she writes the gods, and the wide variety of reactions of the characters to the gods.
As with just about all of Bujold’s books, this one is well paced and plotted. While I still think I prefer the Vorkosigan Saga, there is no lack of enjoyment in her Chalion tales.
Behemoth (Leviathan, #2)
author
Westerfeld, Scott
I’m very much enjoying Westerfeld’s alternate Earth, and Cumming’s reading of it. Everything I liked about the first one applies here.
Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors
author
Handler, Evan *
Evan Handler is a leukemia survivor, but getting there is a journey that is raw, heart breaking, ridiculous, terrifying, and sometimes even funny. The love of his family and his girlfriend and his determination in the face of all the horrors that cancer brings make this an uncomfortable yet compelling read. Yet for all that it could be played up to sensationalize the story, it isn’t. It’s very honest, and that is more than enough to keep you reading.
The Gnomewrench in the Dwarfworks
author
O'Donohoe, Nick
I really wanted to like this one more. It’s a concept that has a lot of potential, but the author just couldn’t pull it off. The best I can say about it is that he doesn’t screw it up, but he doesn’t do anything good with it either.
The characters are a little flat, and the pacing just seemed off. The evil gnomes... well, they aren’t really like any gnomes I know, more like little demons, and I kept getting the wrong mental image.
Pump Six and Other Stories
author
Bacigalupi, Paolo
I think the short story is the author’s better medium. I enjoyed Pump Six way more than The Windup Girl, even with several of the stories taking place in the same world as his novel. This is a really strong collection, and as long as you don’t mind fairly depressing dystopian/post-appocolyptic stories, this is a great read. “The Fluted Girl” was I think my favorite of the tales, while "The People of Sand and Slag" is enough to make any animal lover disparage for the human race.
Classic Ghost Stories
By Charles Dickens, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Guy de Maupassant, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, and F. Marion Crawford
The collection of stories and authors:
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker - When a young scholar seeks out an old house for some solitary studying, he soon finds himself dealing with a very frightening companion.
Dracula's Ghost by Bram Stoker - When an English traveler goes wandering during Walpurgisnacht, he soon learns that the dead can be all too lively.
To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt by Charles Dickens - A rather sensible Englishman finds himself being haunted by the ghost of a murdered man, and when he is selected to be on a jury, he soon finds out what the ghost wants.
The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford - A man crossing the Atlantic is told that his cabin is haunted, and he decides to get to the bottom of what is going on, no matter the cost...and it will cost dearly.
Who Knows? By Guy de Maupassant - A man afraid of the world seeks refuge in his house, but learns that the outside world can reach in after him.
Narrative of the Ghost of a Hand by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu - A story of a house that is being haunted by the ghost of a disembodied hand.
The Furnished Room by O. Henry - When a young man comes looking for a furnished room, it soon becomes apparent that he is not so much looking for a room as he is looking for a certain young lady. He takes the room, and in a mysterious way he finds the young lady.
The Open Window by Saki - The story of a man with shattered nerves and a widow waiting for her husband's return...and a girl with a lively sense of humor!
My Own True Ghost Story by Rudyard Kipling - A night spent in an old, converted billiards room is interrupted when the dead come back for one more game.
Called by F.C. Wren - A man in the Foreign Service in Siam is a hard man indeed, but when he grows tired of his wife, he soon learns that a wife's anger can last a long, long time.
When I Was Dead by Vincent O'Sullivan - What a surprise it is for Alistair when he suddenly turns up dead!
Of them I I really enjoyed To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt, The Furnished Room, The Open Window, and Called, the others I found to suffer from a classic ghost story blunder: stupid protagonists. This is really driven home in The Judge's House by Bram Stoker, which had some really great elements, but just didn’t come together.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
author
Wells, H.G.
It’s odd listening to a story that I’ve never read, yet know already. It’s also a little odd how easily this story, written over a century ago remains timely. Swap “gene-therapy” or “DNA-splicing” with “vivisection” and the story could be set now, or in the very near future. I’m very glad I took the time for this one.
Aside from mispronouncing “puma” the reader does a good job, though the sound editor could have been better. The volume is a little up and down.
Great Classic Horror: Six Unabridged Stories
A Watcher by the Dead by Ambrose Bierce
The Body Snatchers by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventure of the German Student by Washington Irving
Dickon the Devil by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
The Open Window by Saki
As with Classic Ghost Stories I found this collection to be a bit of a mixed bag, though on the whole I enjoyed this collection more than the other. I probably would have enjoyed it a little more had I been reading them next to a camp fire in the woods, rather than listening to them in the car on my commute home.
The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten
by Harrison Geillor, Scott Altman
If you’re a fan of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon and also of zombies, this is the book for you! While it certainly contains the usual brain eating zombies, head shots, and gratuitous violence and gore, there’s also plenty of kinky sex (mostly off-page) psychopathic serial killers, a viking, a bear, a bible thumping (emphasis on the thumping) priest, an ex-Israeli commando, and a conspiracy theorist survival nut, not to mention the usual assortment of small town Minnesotan characters.
While generally not laugh-out-loud funny, it definitely had it’s moments. I especially enjoyed the meta-humor. Some of the characters seemed to realize that they’re actually more caricatures, and while recognizing that fact they remain well rounded characters.
Finishing it on Halloween was just icing on the cake.
Geist (Book of the Order, #1)
author
Ballantine, Philippa
A protagonist in her 30’s? Who smokes? Awesome! Now if only she were more like-able. The support characters do a lot to make up for that fact though. I found myself frustrated that we didn’t get to spend more time and focus with them.
I also wanted to hear more about the setting. It’s is really fascinating, and in some ways reminded me of Sabriel http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2496546.Sabriel I also want to know more about the Order of the Deacons.
Paladin of Souls (Chalion, #2)
author
Bujold, Lois McMaster
It has been a long time since I read The Curse of Chalion. So long, in fact, that it was before I was keeping track of the books I read. Luckily anything that you need is covered. I was pleased that the protagonist wasn’t a late teens/early 20’s girl, but was a mature woman. It’s a nice change, and Bujold does it well. I also appreciate how she writes the gods, and the wide variety of reactions of the characters to the gods.
As with just about all of Bujold’s books, this one is well paced and plotted. While I still think I prefer the Vorkosigan Saga, there is no lack of enjoyment in her Chalion tales.
Behemoth (Leviathan, #2)
author
Westerfeld, Scott
I’m very much enjoying Westerfeld’s alternate Earth, and Cumming’s reading of it. Everything I liked about the first one applies here.
Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors
author
Handler, Evan *
Evan Handler is a leukemia survivor, but getting there is a journey that is raw, heart breaking, ridiculous, terrifying, and sometimes even funny. The love of his family and his girlfriend and his determination in the face of all the horrors that cancer brings make this an uncomfortable yet compelling read. Yet for all that it could be played up to sensationalize the story, it isn’t. It’s very honest, and that is more than enough to keep you reading.
The Gnomewrench in the Dwarfworks
author
O'Donohoe, Nick
I really wanted to like this one more. It’s a concept that has a lot of potential, but the author just couldn’t pull it off. The best I can say about it is that he doesn’t screw it up, but he doesn’t do anything good with it either.
The characters are a little flat, and the pacing just seemed off. The evil gnomes... well, they aren’t really like any gnomes I know, more like little demons, and I kept getting the wrong mental image.
Pump Six and Other Stories
author
Bacigalupi, Paolo
I think the short story is the author’s better medium. I enjoyed Pump Six way more than The Windup Girl, even with several of the stories taking place in the same world as his novel. This is a really strong collection, and as long as you don’t mind fairly depressing dystopian/post-appocolyptic stories, this is a great read. “The Fluted Girl” was I think my favorite of the tales, while "The People of Sand and Slag" is enough to make any animal lover disparage for the human race.
Classic Ghost Stories
By Charles Dickens, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Guy de Maupassant, Bram Stoker, Rudyard Kipling, and F. Marion Crawford
The collection of stories and authors:
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker - When a young scholar seeks out an old house for some solitary studying, he soon finds himself dealing with a very frightening companion.
Dracula's Ghost by Bram Stoker - When an English traveler goes wandering during Walpurgisnacht, he soon learns that the dead can be all too lively.
To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt by Charles Dickens - A rather sensible Englishman finds himself being haunted by the ghost of a murdered man, and when he is selected to be on a jury, he soon finds out what the ghost wants.
The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford - A man crossing the Atlantic is told that his cabin is haunted, and he decides to get to the bottom of what is going on, no matter the cost...and it will cost dearly.
Who Knows? By Guy de Maupassant - A man afraid of the world seeks refuge in his house, but learns that the outside world can reach in after him.
Narrative of the Ghost of a Hand by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu - A story of a house that is being haunted by the ghost of a disembodied hand.
The Furnished Room by O. Henry - When a young man comes looking for a furnished room, it soon becomes apparent that he is not so much looking for a room as he is looking for a certain young lady. He takes the room, and in a mysterious way he finds the young lady.
The Open Window by Saki - The story of a man with shattered nerves and a widow waiting for her husband's return...and a girl with a lively sense of humor!
My Own True Ghost Story by Rudyard Kipling - A night spent in an old, converted billiards room is interrupted when the dead come back for one more game.
Called by F.C. Wren - A man in the Foreign Service in Siam is a hard man indeed, but when he grows tired of his wife, he soon learns that a wife's anger can last a long, long time.
When I Was Dead by Vincent O'Sullivan - What a surprise it is for Alistair when he suddenly turns up dead!
Of them I I really enjoyed To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt, The Furnished Room, The Open Window, and Called, the others I found to suffer from a classic ghost story blunder: stupid protagonists. This is really driven home in The Judge's House by Bram Stoker, which had some really great elements, but just didn’t come together.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
author
Wells, H.G.
It’s odd listening to a story that I’ve never read, yet know already. It’s also a little odd how easily this story, written over a century ago remains timely. Swap “gene-therapy” or “DNA-splicing” with “vivisection” and the story could be set now, or in the very near future. I’m very glad I took the time for this one.
Aside from mispronouncing “puma” the reader does a good job, though the sound editor could have been better. The volume is a little up and down.
Great Classic Horror: Six Unabridged Stories
A Watcher by the Dead by Ambrose Bierce
The Body Snatchers by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventure of the German Student by Washington Irving
Dickon the Devil by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
The Open Window by Saki
As with Classic Ghost Stories I found this collection to be a bit of a mixed bag, though on the whole I enjoyed this collection more than the other. I probably would have enjoyed it a little more had I been reading them next to a camp fire in the woods, rather than listening to them in the car on my commute home.
The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten
by Harrison Geillor, Scott Altman
If you’re a fan of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon and also of zombies, this is the book for you! While it certainly contains the usual brain eating zombies, head shots, and gratuitous violence and gore, there’s also plenty of kinky sex (mostly off-page) psychopathic serial killers, a viking, a bear, a bible thumping (emphasis on the thumping) priest, an ex-Israeli commando, and a conspiracy theorist survival nut, not to mention the usual assortment of small town Minnesotan characters.
While generally not laugh-out-loud funny, it definitely had it’s moments. I especially enjoyed the meta-humor. Some of the characters seemed to realize that they’re actually more caricatures, and while recognizing that fact they remain well rounded characters.
Finishing it on Halloween was just icing on the cake.