The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first in a series of mystery novels. I usually hate mysteries but I was intrigued by the descriptions of the main character in these. It proved a good beach read. The main character is Flavia, an 11 year old girl. She is smart, rapier witted, fearless, and funny as hell. The book is set in the English ( Read more... )

Archivist Wasp was a Bookmarks pick, and as usual, it lived up to the hype. It's an enthralling, unique novel. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future, in a world where food and shelter are precious and superstition and myth are leveraged by the unscrupulous. The main character is a young woman named Wasp. She is an Archivist. The Archivist's job is ( Read more... )

How To Build a Dinosaur is a scientific exploration of what would be involved in creating a living dinosaur using a chicken embryo as a basis. The idea is not to clone a dinosaur, but rather make small developmenalt alterations to create atavisms, like teeth, that would make an animal that is genetically still a chicken look like a small theropod ( Read more... )

I listened to this as my commute audio book. It's read by David Sedaris himself, which means it's fabulous. Nobody has his delightfully sardonic tone. The live recorded essays were, of course, the best. This book isn't my favorite of his (not much compares to Me Talk Pretty One Day) but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.

Round Ireland with a Fridge was exactly what I had hoped it would be - a fun, light, travel story tinged with the ridiculous. The writer, Tony Hawks, is a comedian, and that sensibility is what makes this book work. On a drunken bet, he agrees to hitchhike around Ireland with a small refrigerator. Hawks is from London, and he finds that the ( Read more... )

I listened to The Last Unicorn as an audio book. It's one of my favorite stories and the movie is one the great artistic loves of my life. It's been a while since I read this and I had forgotten what an amazing writer Peter Beagle is. Few people write similes or description so succinctly yet evocatively. I also appreciate how he tackles such huge ( Read more... )

I heard Tony Dokoupil, the author of The Last Pirate on NPR, and his story intrigued me so much I went out and bought his book. It's a memoir of sorts, but instead of an autobiography, he has written his father's biography as it intertwines with his own story. It's very well written, and he is quite generous in his approach, especially given that ( Read more... )

I am a month behind on my book reviews, ugh.

Storm Front is the first Dresden Files book, which (obviously) I've read before. This time I listened to it as my drive home audio book. It's definitely the weakest of the series, but it is short and entertaining overall. James Marsters is an excellent narrator, though he took some getting used to ( Read more... )

Ungifted is another Gordon Korman book that I read in preparation for his visit. I liked it, though it isn't my favorite of his. Familiar themes abound - kids shaking up their worlds, adults who don't quite get them but come to appreciate their creative thinking, and, what I appreciate the most, nothing that is black and white, not even the "bad ( Read more... )

The Rebirths of Tao is the third and (I think) final book in the series. I loved the first two. This one was great, but I think it's a bit less than the others. My gripe is that it picks up events 10 years after the brutal cliffhanger of the second and resolves them a little too neatly. I wanted more explanation, more backstory. It's there, but it ( Read more... )