50 in '15: #49-54
The 90-degree-plus heat wave finally broke, so yesterday I did a bit of gardening, sowing garlic, chard, onions, carrots, leeks, and parsnips in the bed I amended a month or so ago. I have more seeds to sow, but I think they'll wait until the weekend. Squiddle just went down for his nap, so now it's time for me to be productive.
So I'm going to catch up with my book reviews, so as to clear them off my desk.
Title: The Little and the Lost Children
Author: John Peterson
Length: 112 pages
This one's a direct sequel of sorts to The Littles and the Trash Tinies, dealing with the orphan characters Tip and Winkie. Who it turns out weren't really orphans at all, of course. Cue happy family reunion at the end, absent any of the problematic issues that would come of suddenly having parents (and younger siblings) after seven years of not. On the other hand, this book, perhaps more compellingly than any of the others, shows how dangerous the world is when you're four inches tall.
Verdict: Eh, not my favorite of the series. But I'll still give it a Recommended.
Title: Johnny and the Dead
Author: Terry Pratchett
Length: 188 pages
I picked this up on a whim, and apparently it's the middle of three books about the titular character. But it reads completely as a stand-alone.
It's a bit slow in the beginning, but once the spirits start venturing out of the cemetery, it picks up. Unfortunately, though, it also has to compete (in my mind) with the snappier tone of Good Omens, and the similar-yet-very-different take Neil Gaiman did in The Graveyard Book. However, once it gets going, it does well, and ends in a theological(?) place neither of the other two does. So it doesn't feel like duplicate reading.
Verdict: Recommended. I'm going to keep my eye out for the other two books in this set.
Title: The Little Spark - 30 Eays to Ignite Your Creativity
Author: Carrie Bloomston
Length: 124 pages
This one I checked out of the library after reading an excerpt posted on one of the blogs I trawl. It's basically a 30-days-of-creativity workbook, which, meh. Some of the thirty sections worked for me, most of them didn't. I think the author works in vastly different media and on a vastly different mindset than I do. That said, there was some stuff in here that I found useful.
Verdict: Worth a peruse. Check out from the library before deciding if you want to buy.
Title: On the Other Side of the Hill
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 349 pages
Skipping ahead a book in the Rose series, since I haven't found the intervening tome in the thrift stores yet. This one is pretty good, slices of life, some humorous, some scary. I like the observation that we all grow up and lie a little to our children.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: Little Town in the Ozarks
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 336 pages
And the next book along in the series. Like Laura, Rose moves to town and becomes a "town girl" in this volume. This book covers the Spanish-American war, and its effects on Rose, the beginnings of her political and travel urges, and her growing up. But my favorite scene is definitely Laura in the debate.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: On the Banks of the Bayou
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 232 pages
Skipping a book again. Sadly, this volume read somewhat thin. A lack of other characters for Rose to interact with, I think. This was one of the author's posthumous publishings, so my guess is MacBride meant to go fill out the details later, but never got the chance. But Rose's political activities broaden and deepen here, and it's worth reading for a view of the times.
Verdict: Recommended, but not very heartily.
So I'm going to catch up with my book reviews, so as to clear them off my desk.
Title: The Little and the Lost Children
Author: John Peterson
Length: 112 pages
This one's a direct sequel of sorts to The Littles and the Trash Tinies, dealing with the orphan characters Tip and Winkie. Who it turns out weren't really orphans at all, of course. Cue happy family reunion at the end, absent any of the problematic issues that would come of suddenly having parents (and younger siblings) after seven years of not. On the other hand, this book, perhaps more compellingly than any of the others, shows how dangerous the world is when you're four inches tall.
Verdict: Eh, not my favorite of the series. But I'll still give it a Recommended.
Title: Johnny and the Dead
Author: Terry Pratchett
Length: 188 pages
I picked this up on a whim, and apparently it's the middle of three books about the titular character. But it reads completely as a stand-alone.
It's a bit slow in the beginning, but once the spirits start venturing out of the cemetery, it picks up. Unfortunately, though, it also has to compete (in my mind) with the snappier tone of Good Omens, and the similar-yet-very-different take Neil Gaiman did in The Graveyard Book. However, once it gets going, it does well, and ends in a theological(?) place neither of the other two does. So it doesn't feel like duplicate reading.
Verdict: Recommended. I'm going to keep my eye out for the other two books in this set.
Title: The Little Spark - 30 Eays to Ignite Your Creativity
Author: Carrie Bloomston
Length: 124 pages
This one I checked out of the library after reading an excerpt posted on one of the blogs I trawl. It's basically a 30-days-of-creativity workbook, which, meh. Some of the thirty sections worked for me, most of them didn't. I think the author works in vastly different media and on a vastly different mindset than I do. That said, there was some stuff in here that I found useful.
Verdict: Worth a peruse. Check out from the library before deciding if you want to buy.
Title: On the Other Side of the Hill
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 349 pages
Skipping ahead a book in the Rose series, since I haven't found the intervening tome in the thrift stores yet. This one is pretty good, slices of life, some humorous, some scary. I like the observation that we all grow up and lie a little to our children.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: Little Town in the Ozarks
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 336 pages
And the next book along in the series. Like Laura, Rose moves to town and becomes a "town girl" in this volume. This book covers the Spanish-American war, and its effects on Rose, the beginnings of her political and travel urges, and her growing up. But my favorite scene is definitely Laura in the debate.
Verdict: Recommended.
Title: On the Banks of the Bayou
Author: Roger Lea MacBride
Length: 232 pages
Skipping a book again. Sadly, this volume read somewhat thin. A lack of other characters for Rose to interact with, I think. This was one of the author's posthumous publishings, so my guess is MacBride meant to go fill out the details later, but never got the chance. But Rose's political activities broaden and deepen here, and it's worth reading for a view of the times.
Verdict: Recommended, but not very heartily.