Books in Review - March 2008
Details under the cut-tags!
Read
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Contrary to popular belief, reading this book did NOT make me want to hike the Appalachian Trail. It did make me want to go out into the woods, though. Or at least outside more.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A.J. Jacobs
I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to, but I did learn a lot, laugh a lot, and I did LIKE it a lot. I will keep reading A.J. Jacobs, if he writes another book. (In the meantime, I will just keep re-reading his Esquire magazine interview with George Clooney. Hee.)
Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth - Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson
Recommended by mystery_diva who was reading it based on a recommendation from her boyfriend, this was an (I think) honest portrayal of life as a United Nations employees in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Liberia. I didn't ENJOY it, exactly, but it was an eye-opening read.
The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
A re-read of one of my favourites, in which a detective confined to bed tries to puzzle out the history of Richard III and the Princes in the Tower.
William Shakespeare: The World As Stage - Bill Bryson (for the Eminent Lives series)
This, I loved. Bill Bryson's way of writing in this book tickled me, and I felt very close to Shakespearean times as I was reading. (I also wanted to re-watch Shakespeare in Love. DO NOT JUDGE ME, that movie is rip-roaring fun.) This was a very short book, as we actually *know* very little about Shakespeare. Recommended highly.
Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement - Rodney Rothman
A burned-out writer goes to Miami to try an early retirement. Amusing and diverting, at least for the evening I spent reading it. (Rodney Rothman was the head writer for David Letterman, and worked on Undeclared.)
Ill Wind (Weather Warden, Book 1) - Rachel Caine
I don't know if it was the writing or the plot, but I feel like I read this book in a whirlwind. It went really quickly! I enjoyed it, I wanted to look for the others in the series. I gave it 3 stars on GoodReads, and I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. I'm just not sure I liked the main character enough to give it 4 stars. The story/characters did remind me of Tanya Huff in ways, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not used to first-person narration in sci-fi/fantasy, so that took some getting used to.
Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, Book 2) - Rachel Caine
The second book in this series was OK. I remember very little about it. Really it was a conduit to the third book.
Chill Factor (Weather Warden, Book 3) - Rachel Caine
I really wanted to read this one, since it was set in Las Vegas and I had just been there. I was particularly excited when I realized it was set specifically in the Luxor, where I stayed, but the inaccurate descriptions really turned me off.
And it's confirmed. I really don't like the main character/heroine. She can be kickass, sarcastic, and amusing, but she's also incredibly naive and it got on my last nerve. I think I'm done with this series.
The Birth House - Ami McKay
I heard the author speak at the Ontario Library Association conference, and then picked up her book. The story is about midwives and women living in the early 1900s in the Canadian maritimes. I liked it a lot, but I continue to find it hard to say what I liked about it or why I enjoyed it. I do recommend it, though.
The Truth about Forever - Sarah Dessens
I think it was minervacat who recommended this one to me, and I'm glad she did. The story is about a girl trying to deal with the death of her father, her relationship with her workaholic mother, and her absent-but-demanding boyfriend. Great secondary characters and believeable dialogue.
Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson
This is a collection of columns trying to explain Americans and American behaviour to British people. VERY funny, especially to me, who is neither British nor American, but believes she has an understanding of both.
Asta's Book - Barbara Vine
A reread. I like this book a lot, it's got made-up history, which I like a lot, and a whole bunch of mysteries that you don't even know are there until they're RIGHT THERE.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
Reread. I think I really need to reread from book four onwards, as I am starting to get really confused by all the people in this series. (Also, confession time: I AM BORED BY ALL THE POLITICS. I just want to read about Jamie, Claire, Bree, Roger and their families. SORRY DIANA.)
Continued
The Ode Not Taken: Unlocking the Poet Within - Stephen Fry
January note: I love this book, and yet it scares me. I think maybe I've convinced myself that I am Not Clever Enough By Half to understand Stephen Fry's excellent (and amusing) explanations of poetry and poetic forms. I thought I was OK with lambic pentameter and metre, but honestly, even though he says not to worry, I got frightened off by end-stopping, enjambment and caesura. Help!
February note: I didn't get any further into this book. I was too busy reading Stephen Fry's fiction.
March note: Still scared, and distracted by chocolate and March Madness.
Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides - Ariel Meadow Stallings
January note: I read on her blog (offbeat bride) that Ariel, in retrospect, thought about calling this book Authentic Bride; that might have been a good idea. Some people don't mind being thought of as offbeat, but some people do, and they might not read this book because of it. I wish they would. If I get married - and boy is THAT a whole other post - I will carry this book around with me for the duration of the planning and execution of the event.
February note: I dip into this book in bits and pieces when I'm in a wedding mood, and am comforted by finding such sage and wise words. I know it will be useful when we get married.
March note: Same.
The Mauritius Command - Patrick O'Brian
January note: I'm not giving up on this book or this series, I enjoyed the first fifty or so pages, but it just didn't work for me in Vegas and I haven't picked it up again since I got home.
February note: I'm still working on it. About 180 pages in, and enjoying it, but I can't speed-read O'Brian. (And I'm trying not to speed-read anything this year!)
March note: Still reading. Stephen just fell off the ship. Again. They've taken Mauritius from the French! (I think.) And Stephen saw a manatee! Other than that, not much is going on. I am going to finish this soon!!
Started
Eight Men and a Duck: An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat To Easter Island - Nick Thorpe
I picked this up because of the title, and it started well, but I'm a little bored with it now. I think I'll keep going, because I haven't even gotten to the duck yet.
Potential next-reads, depending on library speed, interest, cover image, font, and ... life:
-One day the ice will reveal all its dead - Clare Dudman
-Mistress of the sun : a novel - Sandra Gulland
-Searching for Bobby Orr - Stephen Brunt
-The Maltese Falcon - Dashiel Hammett
-The Boys of Summer - Roger Kahn
-The abstinence teacher - Tom Perrotta
-How to suppress women's writing - Joanna Russ
-Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly - Jane Espenson
-The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
What about you? What did you read in March? What are you reading now? What do you suggest I read next?
Read
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Contrary to popular belief, reading this book did NOT make me want to hike the Appalachian Trail. It did make me want to go out into the woods, though. Or at least outside more.
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A.J. Jacobs
I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to, but I did learn a lot, laugh a lot, and I did LIKE it a lot. I will keep reading A.J. Jacobs, if he writes another book. (In the meantime, I will just keep re-reading his Esquire magazine interview with George Clooney. Hee.)
Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth - Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson
Recommended by mystery_diva who was reading it based on a recommendation from her boyfriend, this was an (I think) honest portrayal of life as a United Nations employees in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Liberia. I didn't ENJOY it, exactly, but it was an eye-opening read.
The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
A re-read of one of my favourites, in which a detective confined to bed tries to puzzle out the history of Richard III and the Princes in the Tower.
William Shakespeare: The World As Stage - Bill Bryson (for the Eminent Lives series)
This, I loved. Bill Bryson's way of writing in this book tickled me, and I felt very close to Shakespearean times as I was reading. (I also wanted to re-watch Shakespeare in Love. DO NOT JUDGE ME, that movie is rip-roaring fun.) This was a very short book, as we actually *know* very little about Shakespeare. Recommended highly.
Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement - Rodney Rothman
A burned-out writer goes to Miami to try an early retirement. Amusing and diverting, at least for the evening I spent reading it. (Rodney Rothman was the head writer for David Letterman, and worked on Undeclared.)
Ill Wind (Weather Warden, Book 1) - Rachel Caine
I don't know if it was the writing or the plot, but I feel like I read this book in a whirlwind. It went really quickly! I enjoyed it, I wanted to look for the others in the series. I gave it 3 stars on GoodReads, and I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. I'm just not sure I liked the main character enough to give it 4 stars. The story/characters did remind me of Tanya Huff in ways, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not used to first-person narration in sci-fi/fantasy, so that took some getting used to.
Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, Book 2) - Rachel Caine
The second book in this series was OK. I remember very little about it. Really it was a conduit to the third book.
Chill Factor (Weather Warden, Book 3) - Rachel Caine
I really wanted to read this one, since it was set in Las Vegas and I had just been there. I was particularly excited when I realized it was set specifically in the Luxor, where I stayed, but the inaccurate descriptions really turned me off.
And it's confirmed. I really don't like the main character/heroine. She can be kickass, sarcastic, and amusing, but she's also incredibly naive and it got on my last nerve. I think I'm done with this series.
The Birth House - Ami McKay
I heard the author speak at the Ontario Library Association conference, and then picked up her book. The story is about midwives and women living in the early 1900s in the Canadian maritimes. I liked it a lot, but I continue to find it hard to say what I liked about it or why I enjoyed it. I do recommend it, though.
The Truth about Forever - Sarah Dessens
I think it was minervacat who recommended this one to me, and I'm glad she did. The story is about a girl trying to deal with the death of her father, her relationship with her workaholic mother, and her absent-but-demanding boyfriend. Great secondary characters and believeable dialogue.
Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson
This is a collection of columns trying to explain Americans and American behaviour to British people. VERY funny, especially to me, who is neither British nor American, but believes she has an understanding of both.
Asta's Book - Barbara Vine
A reread. I like this book a lot, it's got made-up history, which I like a lot, and a whole bunch of mysteries that you don't even know are there until they're RIGHT THERE.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
Reread. I think I really need to reread from book four onwards, as I am starting to get really confused by all the people in this series. (Also, confession time: I AM BORED BY ALL THE POLITICS. I just want to read about Jamie, Claire, Bree, Roger and their families. SORRY DIANA.)
Continued
The Ode Not Taken: Unlocking the Poet Within - Stephen Fry
January note: I love this book, and yet it scares me. I think maybe I've convinced myself that I am Not Clever Enough By Half to understand Stephen Fry's excellent (and amusing) explanations of poetry and poetic forms. I thought I was OK with lambic pentameter and metre, but honestly, even though he says not to worry, I got frightened off by end-stopping, enjambment and caesura. Help!
February note: I didn't get any further into this book. I was too busy reading Stephen Fry's fiction.
March note: Still scared, and distracted by chocolate and March Madness.
Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides - Ariel Meadow Stallings
January note: I read on her blog (offbeat bride) that Ariel, in retrospect, thought about calling this book Authentic Bride; that might have been a good idea. Some people don't mind being thought of as offbeat, but some people do, and they might not read this book because of it. I wish they would. If I get married - and boy is THAT a whole other post - I will carry this book around with me for the duration of the planning and execution of the event.
February note: I dip into this book in bits and pieces when I'm in a wedding mood, and am comforted by finding such sage and wise words. I know it will be useful when we get married.
March note: Same.
The Mauritius Command - Patrick O'Brian
January note: I'm not giving up on this book or this series, I enjoyed the first fifty or so pages, but it just didn't work for me in Vegas and I haven't picked it up again since I got home.
February note: I'm still working on it. About 180 pages in, and enjoying it, but I can't speed-read O'Brian. (And I'm trying not to speed-read anything this year!)
March note: Still reading. Stephen just fell off the ship. Again. They've taken Mauritius from the French! (I think.) And Stephen saw a manatee! Other than that, not much is going on. I am going to finish this soon!!
Started
Eight Men and a Duck: An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat To Easter Island - Nick Thorpe
I picked this up because of the title, and it started well, but I'm a little bored with it now. I think I'll keep going, because I haven't even gotten to the duck yet.
Potential next-reads, depending on library speed, interest, cover image, font, and ... life:
-One day the ice will reveal all its dead - Clare Dudman
-Mistress of the sun : a novel - Sandra Gulland
-Searching for Bobby Orr - Stephen Brunt
-The Maltese Falcon - Dashiel Hammett
-The Boys of Summer - Roger Kahn
-The abstinence teacher - Tom Perrotta
-How to suppress women's writing - Joanna Russ
-Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly - Jane Espenson
-The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
What about you? What did you read in March? What are you reading now? What do you suggest I read next?