books 2009 // x
Title: I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago by Hape Kerkeling [Munich 2006]
Series: ---.
Length: 345 pages.
Summary: Overweight, overworked, and disenchanted, Kerkeling was an unlikely candidate to make the arduous pilgrimage across the Pyrenees to the Spanish shrine of St. James, a 1,200-year-old journey undertaken by nearly 100,000 people every year. But he decided to get off the couch and do it anyway. Lonely and searching for meaning along the way, he began the journal that turned into this utterly frank, engaging book. Filled with unforgettable characters, historic landscapes, and Kerkeling's self-deprecating humor, I'm Off Then is an inspiring travelogue, a publishing phenomenon, and a spiritual journey unlike any other. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Amusing. Insightful. Clever. Honest. Written with 'heart' and warmth.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ½ of 5.
Review: I wasn't too sure what to expect of this book but I've always liked Hape as a comedian which is why I decided to give this one a try. And it was so very much worth it.
As expected there were parts that had me laughing out loud (pretty often, actually) but underneath the funny story the book is very honest and courageous. He writes stuff (I suppose) we all think from time to time but don't admit for fear of being laughed at.
In short, it was a beautiful book. Funny, deep and thoughtful. Reading it made me feel peaceful and I'm glad I read it.
Links: official website, @ wikipedia
Title: Clear And Present Danger by Tom Clancy [USA 1989]
Series: Jack Ryan part 06.
Length: 712 pages.
Summary: At what point does criminal activity threaten national security? When can a nation respond to it as an enemy? These are the questions Jack Ryan must consider when he hears that Colombian drug lords have assassinated the American ambassador and the visiting head of the FBI! [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Great pacing towards the ending. Action-oriented. Suspenseful. Long exposition.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ½ of 5 (for the long exposition).
Review: Despite my love for fast-paced action-thrillers Clear and Present Danger is my first book by Tom Clancy and I have to say...I dunno.
On the one hand the exposition lasted for about 450 pages and it was nothing but sheer stubbornness that got me through that. Then, however, the action all but exploded and the book got really suspenseful. In fact, once I got to that point it even turned out that the characters were a bit more complex than I first gave them credit for.
So basically I loved this book after page 450. Before that it was a bit too long-winded for my taste.
Links: @ wikipedia
Title: Angle of Impact by Bonnie MacDougal [New York 1998]
Series: ---.
Length: 413 pages.
Summary: Dana Svenssen, a brilliant, overworked Philadelphia lawyer, is on her way to a routine business meeting when her carefully ordered world detonates. The helicopter carrying her client collides with an airplane directly over the amusement park where Dana's two daughters are spending the day on a class trip. As fiery debris rains down on screaming families, Dana desperately races to the scene to find her children. Then, in the frantic aftermath, she discovers that the tragic accident isn't an accident.
Yet determining the probable cause of the collision is arduous and near impossible. As Dana assembles a crack team of forensic aviation experts to reconstruct the disaster, her troubled marriage threatens to crash and burn as well. Until a kidnapping suddenly throws Dana into the maelstrom of a deadly, all-consuming conspiracy. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Average. A bit clichéd but fun.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ½ of 5.
Review: On the back-flap this book is compared to Grisham's works which might have been a tiny little exaggeration to sell the book. Nevertheless the book is a nice read and really picks up pacing toward the end whereas it's a bit slow in the beginning.
The character 'Andy' may be a cliché but he's doubtlessly fun to read and even though the heroine, Dana, isn't really convincing the overall impression isn't too bad. It's a nice and pleasant read to pick when you want to kill some time and clear your mind.Nothing exceptional but not really bad either.
Links: official website
Title: Already Dead by Charlie Huston [New York 2005]
Series: Joe Pitt part 01 of 05.
Length: 318 pages.
Summary: Manhattan is teeming with the undead, the island divided into often-warring vampire clans such as the Society, the Hood and the Enclave. The most powerful is the Coalition, whose goal is to protect its members from public scrutiny and persecution. Rogue PI Joe Pitt (aka Simon), who like all vampires is infected with a virus that requires him to drink blood regularly, is hired by Marilee Horde, a prominent New York socialite, to locate her runaway teenage daughter, Amanda, who may be slumming with homeless goth kids in the East Village. Meanwhile, a "carrier" is on the loose, infecting its victims with a bacterium that turns them into brain-eating zombies. The Coalition wants Pitt to find and destroy the carrier, since the carnage the zombies are causing brings unwanted attention to the undead community. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Too forced. Strong language & gore for no apparent purpose. Ridiculous.
Personal Rating: ◊ of 5.
Review: I have found out that despite the wild praise on the back-flap, I once again find myself unable to share the high opinion of the book.
First of all I can't help myself but think of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend when I read about the virus but, admittedly, that's just a starting point and really branches out into another direction. Too bad, as it turns out.
Overall, I found the book ridiculous and it felt like the author was trying to hard. It started with little things like the spelling of 'vampyr' which comes across to me as if it's only written that way in order to sound more mysterious or to fake a bit of depth. Next to that I had the constant feeling that the narrator keeps swearing just for the sake of it or in order to sound tough which, in turn, made me giggle uncontrollably because very often his 'I'm so tough'-mode just doesn't fit into the circumstances.
Another little tidbit is the way how the vampyres divide humans into different categories, namely: 'Minas', 'Van Helsings', 'Lucys' and 'Renfields'. Unfortunately this is a bit of a literary mine field with me as Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of my favorite books and I feel like the use of these categories shows some superficial knowledge of the characters at best.
Basically my problem with the book is that in my opinion it's unnecessarily gross and violent for no other reason than to shock the reader or to show just what a hard world it is that the protagonist lives in. The same goes for the swearing. Every second word Joe starts swearing without any reason to (despite his general toughness), so that it all comes across as ridiculous rather than intimidating and I was constantly reminded of little boys pretending to be big and bad.
Overall I was very disappointed as neither gore nor the swearing serve any purpose in terms of plot (or even atmosphere), the plot itself was thin and the characters ridiculous. I just couldn't take this book seriously as it felt way too forced to my mind.
Links: official website, @ wikipedia
Title: Long Spoon Lane by Anne Perry [2005]
Series: Thomas Pitt.
Length: 397 pages.
Summary: Special Branch investigator Thomas Pitt is summoned in the middle of the night to the aftermath of a bombing, the work of unknown anarchists intent on wreaking havoc in London in revenge for high-level police corruption. The chase leads to the group's lair in an abandoned building along grimy Long Spoon Lane, where the body of Magnus Landsborough, son of a well-connected lord, raises disturbing questions about both the young man's association with the underground cell and police procedures to combat terrorists. Pitt and fellow detective Victor Narraway soon find themselves up against a powerful secret society known as the Inner Circle. True-to-life parliamentary debate ensues over how much power police should be granted to quash the anarchist threat to Queen and country. The action slows when myriad characters, including wives, servants and politicians, hold excessively detailed discussions of the case, but the pace picks up with a spirited pursuit through London and across the Thames. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Complex. Well-written. Good characters. Multi-faceted plot.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ &Loz; ½ of 5.
Review: I tend to expect good books from Anne Perry and as usual I'm not disappointed. Long Spoon Lane delivers many, multi-faceted plot-strings that are written in a very smart way and it's really fun to witness them coming together in the end.
This book deals with a very modern but also ancient motif: corruption, terrorism and the respect of privacy. However, I think the most important part of the 'message' is (if there even is a message at all as I doubt it's intended) that no matter what to do, it might be more important to focus on the victims first and help them before politics come into play. That in the end violence is no solution.
Again, overall I like this book a lot as it mixes the flair of Victorian London with a clever conspiracy story, complex characters and even gets me thinking. That, and my favorite characters Aunt Vespasia shines again.
Links: official website, @ wikipedia.
Other books I've read by this author: Callander Square. Pentecoast Alley. Knostrop Hall, Early Morning. Half Moon Street. The Whitechapel Conspiracy. Shoulder the Sky. Angels in the Gloom.
Title: Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett [London 1990]
Series: Disc World.
Length: 340 pages.
Summary: Discworld's pesky alchemists are up to their old tricks again. This time, they've discovered how to get gold from silver -- the silver screen that is. Hearing the siren call of Holy Wood is one Victor Tugelbend, a would-be wizard turned extra. He can't sing, he can't dance, but he can handle a sword (sort of), and now he wants to be a star. So does Theda Withel, an ambitious ingénue from a little town (where else?) you've probably never heard of.
But the click click of moving pictures isn't just stirring up dreams inside Discworld. Holy Wood's magic is drifting out into the boundaries of the universes, where raw realities, the could-have-beens, the might-bes, the never-weres, the wild ideas are beginning to ferment into a really stinky brew. It's up to Victor and Gaspode the Wonder Dog (a star if ever one was born!) to rein in the chaos and bring order back to a starstruck Discworld. And they're definitely not ready for their close-up! [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Brilliant. Insane. Hilarious.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ of 5.
Review: The book is insane and without a doubt among the best books I've read in 2009. It's a hilarious parody had me laughing out loud very very often. My personal highlight was Gaspode, the jaded talking dog, and his 'friend' Laddie. Brilliant. This book is genius.
Links: official website, @ wikipedia
Other books I've read by this author: Reaper Man. The Wee Free Men. Wintersmith.
Title: Nemesis by Agatha Christie [London 1971]
Series: Miss Marple.
Length: 187 pages.
Summary: Even the unflappable Miss Marple is astounded as she reads the letter addressed to her on instructions from the recently deceased tycoon Mr Jason Rafiel, whom she had met on holiday in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery). Recognising in her a natural flair for justice and a genius for crime-solving, Mr Rafiel has bequeathed to Miss Marple a -20,000 legacy-and a legacy of an entirely different sort. For he has asked Miss Marple to investigate-his own murder. The only problem is, Mr Rafiel has failed to name a suspect or suspects. And, whoever they are, they will certainly be determined to thwart Miss Marple-s inquiries-no matter what it will take to stop her. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Smart. Enjoyable. Complex plot. Wonderfully eccentric characters.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ of 5.
Review: No matter what I've read before, it always feels like a gust of fresh air when I read Christie's clear and elegant style. As I've come to expect from her books, the plot is clever and complicated and Miss Marple reaches new heights of greatness as she acts all frail and eccentric.
For once I felt like not all clues have been given to the reader until 'the big reveal'. I.e. the whistle would have been an important clue I would have liked to have in order to delude myself into thinking that I can solve the case on my own. That being said, I still managed to overlook important clues that were given, for instance in the garden.
All in all this was a very smart book and I really enjoyed reading it. Clearly you can't go wrong with Agatha :)
Links: official website, @ wikipedia.
Other books I've read by this author: Murder on the Orient-Express. The Moving Finger. After the Funeral (Funerals are Fatal). The Clock.
Title: The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [Britain 1912]
Series: Prof. Challenger part 01.
Length: audio book.
Summary: Unlucky in love, but desperate to prove himself in an adventure, journalist Ed Malone is sent to interview the infamous and hot-tempered Professor Challenger about his bizarre South American expedition findings- especially his sketches of a strange plateau and the monstrous creatures that appear to live there.
But rather than being angry at his questions, Challenger invites him along on his next field trip. Malone is delighted; until it becomes clear that the Professor was telling the truth about the terrible lost world he discovered.
Will they all survive the terrifying creatures on the island? And will anyone ever believe what they saw there?
[Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Elegant style. Smart. Eloquent. Amazing characters. Incredibly creative.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ½ of 5.
Review: For the longest time I was completely ignorant of the variety in Doyle's writing and I was very thrilled to find that the inventor of Sherlock Holmes had been so diligent with his writing.
As it is, The Lost World made me feel like I was reading Jules Verne again as he evoked the same sense of adventure and awe in me as I had back when I read Verne's stories. However, in addition to Verne, I feel like Doyle's characters are more vibrant and alive. They're very complex with very individual strengths and faults that make it easy for the reader to relate to them as they feel so very 'real'.
At times the narrative itself was very reminiscent of Watson's style, referring to the way letters were used to tell the story. It was this form of using letters that made the story so very suspenseful to me as I never knew whether or not the narrator, Malone, was going to survive. Additionally, the narrator addressed the reader directly which pulls him, the reader, even more deeply into the story (Stoker uses this in Dracula as well but with varying narrators).
The plot twists and turns and had quite a few surprises in store for and the pacing is nothing short of great - as is the creative, gorgeous imaginary. Overall I'd say this book is a great mix between Verne and Wells and it's really fun to read it.
Links: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, @ wikipedia
Other books I've read by this author: The adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Various Sherlock Holmes short stories.
Title: Atlantis by David Gibbins [London 2005]
Series: ---.
Length: 463 pages.
Summary: From an extraordinary discovery in a remote desert oasis to a desperate race against time in the ocean depths, a team of adventurers is about to find the truth behind the most baffling legend in history. The hunt is on for…
Marine archaeologist Jack Howard has stumbled upon the keys to an ancient puzzle. With a crack team of scientific experts and ex-Special Forces commandos, he is heading for what he believes could be the greatest archaeological find of all time-the site of fabled Atlantis-while a ruthless adversary watches his every move and prepares to strike.
But neither of them could have imagined what awaits them in the murky depths. Not only a shocking truth about a lost world, but an explosive secret that could have devastating consequences today. Jack is determined to stop the legacy of Atlantis from falling into the wrong hands, whatever the cost. But first he must do battle to prevent a global catastrophe. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Adventure.Unrealistic. One-dimensional characters. Unrealistic.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ of 5.
Review: I had great hopes for this book as anything that deals with the ocean inevitably tends to draw my attention. Unfortunately I felt that Atlantis didn't quite live up to my expectation despite the great premise.
From the very beginning there are a lot of scientific details and it really irked me that I wasn't able to tell whether or not they're accurate (yes, after reading Dan Brown, I learned questioning 'facts' as they're presented in books). Anyway, as a sad side effect I felt that all the care went into providing the reader with an impressing amount of techno-babble - which resulted in neglecting the general characterization. The characters - unfortunately pretty much all of them - felt like clichéd, one-dimensional stereotypes. For instance Katya is a ridiculously smart, very sexy, mysterious and has the obligatory tragic past (and, as it turns out later on, she also has family ties to the antagonist). Needless to say that she falls in love with the oh-so-perfect hero.
Apart from the characterization I couldn't stop wondering - how can all this stuff happen and no one interferes? They bomb an island for goodness sake and there are no reactions from the involved countries nor are there any repercussions for the characters apart from 'the hero gets the girl' (big surprise here).
So mostly I felt like this book has a really great and fascinating premise but it's too loaded with badly-explained information while there's too little characterization. Too bad, really because the premise really is thrilling in my opinion.
Links: official website, @ wikipedia
Title: The Red House Mystery by Alan Alexander Milne [London 1922]
Series: ---.
Length: audio book.
Summary: Though Milne is immediately associated with Winnie-the-Pooh and pals, he nonetheless wrote a number of adult titles, including this 1922 novel in which guests at a country estate become amateur sleuths when a shooting occurs and all evidence points toward their host. [Source].
Review in 5 words or less: Smart. Fun. Great characterization.
Personal Rating: ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ of 5.
Review: This book was written in a style reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes novels and even uses fun little references to them (at times critical ones concerning Holmes' attitude towards Watson, too which I really enjoyed).
Apart from this little tidbit the book is like a breath of fresh air. It's got lovely style, fun, well-rounded characters and a smart plot. I'm very proud to say that even if I didn't manage to solve the case completely, I solved the whole Mark/Robert-riddle which pleased me ridiculously. Next to that this is one of the few books that actually give the reader the chance to solve the case and give you all the clues you need (in contrast to all those novels where you find out that the oh-so-smart detective has found the incriminating piece of evidence behind the scenes and you had no chance to solve the case on your own in the first place but are merely expected to marvel at the detective's wits.)
Anyway, this book is definitely worth the read. This old-fashioned detective story.
Links: @ wikipedia