Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The idea of the gods interacting directly with mortals is not a new one for modern fiction. Neil Gaiman tackled it in American Gods and now A. Lee Martinez does it in Divine Misfortune
Category: Books
Review: Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I will freely admit that while I’d heard of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor and I could identify the scarf a mile off, I hadn’t ever seen an episode of his. I came to the Doctor during the Russell T. Davies reboot era and I certainly love me some David Tennant. But this past summer, when I was in Scotland, there was a few book stores and one of them was having a sale and I came across a slim paperback of Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of the nice things my Audible subscription is doing is giving me the opportunity to catch up on a lot of the classics I never actually read. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Review: Her Royal Spyness
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m on a roll, reading the first book in a series, again. At some point, I’ll read the rest of them, maybe. This one is fun and cute and well written – it may be the first in a series but it’s not a first novel, not by a long shot. Continue reading “Review: Her Royal Spyness”
Review: Killing Floor
Killing Floor by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There’s a rule in writing having to do with coincidences. If you get too many of them, the audience will stop believing what you’re writing. This is the case with Killing Floor
Review: American Gods
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I first read this book back in ’06 and remembered liking it a great deal. Listening to this full cast recording of the author’s preferred text, I didn’t particularly notice much difference (that being said, I didn’t really remember the Hinzelman scene or the coming to America passages from before so who knows).
Review: The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a wonderful book!
Hazel Grace is a 17 year old dying of cancer. This is not romance cancer which will miraculously get cured by the final act, by the way. Nope, this is terminal from the moment the book opens. She did have a miracle slowing of the cancer at one point about three years before the book starts, but at this point, she’s just waiting for her time to come. She’s pretty much resigned to it and lives her life accordingly. Continue reading “Review: The Fault in Our Stars”
Review: Soulless
Soulless by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are some books which are a mix of genres, like a steampunk novel with romance, say, or a romance novel set in a steampunk world. Soulless is most definitely the former. This isn’t a bad thing, not by a long shot, but it’s not really my cup of (very well-written and beautifully described) tea. Gail Carriger’s book is a fun read, rife with the social obstacle course which is Victorian England. Add in a healthy mix of supernatural beasties (werewolves, vampires and ghosts) and a steampunk-ish sensibility and you have all the ingredients for great romp. Continue reading “Review: Soulless”
Review: The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book won all kinds of awards and came highly recommended and yet… I was mostly bored.
The premise, that of a boy walking up in an elevator which is going to deposit him into Lord of the Flies type setting with no memories of his past life could be interesting. The “Glade,” where the boy, Thomas, is deposited, is the center area of a huge maze which some of the boys of this compound (and yes, it’s all boys) go through on a daily basis, trying to “solve” it. They’ve been doing this for two years and all they’ve discovered is that some of the walls move at night (which is also when “scary” monsters come out). Continue reading “Review: The Maze Runner”
A Few Short Book Reviews
I’ve been horribly remiss in my book reviews as the semester has started and I’ve been swamped. So… here’s a a few short reviews of what I’ve been reading.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a wonderful book! Helene Wecker draws three dimensional characters who change and grow and evolve before our eyes. Even her stock characters, the old arab gossip, the lapsed jew, the pampered socialite, all have an extra quality to them which allows us, as readers, to be fully invested in their lives. Continue reading “A Few Short Book Reviews”
Review: Ficciones
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a book you need to focus on to read and fully appreciate. It’s not easy, mostly because they’re not stories, not in the sense we are conditioned to think of them. No real beginnings, middles or ends, more like Borges’ thoughts as he’s sitting at a typewriter and doing writing exercises.
This book in particular didn’t quite work for me for that reason. On a sentence by sentence level, the language and imagery are beautiful but that’s like looking at the scattered pieces of a mosaic and commenting on their attractiveness. Unless they’re put together to make a picture of some sort, something with coherence and fusion, they remain just lovely pieces.
That all said, it’s fascinating to see his influence and how far reaching it is. Anyone who reads this and Murakami and doesn’t see how the one affected the other is missing a fairly important link in the chain.
Review: The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Seems like I’ve been on a Jules Verne kick lately, slowly working my way through the classics. I’d heard about Mysterious Island before, and seen several of the films, but like watching the movie version of Around the World in 80 Days, the book is very much different! Continue reading “Review: The Mysterious Island”
Review: The Black Book
The Black Book by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I picked this up because I was in Edinburgh, Scotland and had been on a Literary Walking Tour of the city’s most famous writers and Rankin’s name kept coming up. We passed places he hung out, locations from his books, and heard stories about his life. So when I had the opportunity to grab one of his Rebus thrillers I took it, feeling like it’s a good thing to read local writers. Continue reading “Review: The Black Book”
Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was a good book. Not a great one, but very very good. It’s a classic Gaiman story; young people, shadowlands, ancient beings, “beating of giant wings”… all the good stuff. I listened to it, read by the author, which at times can be a tricky proposition but Gaiman is a performer and he does a great job with his own words (This is not always the case, mind you) and at just under 6 hours listening time, this isn’t a long piece of fiction. So why isn’t it great? For me, length is actually one of the factors. Continue reading “Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane”
Review: Schooled
Schooled by Christa Charter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Generally, I enjoyed Christa Charter’s new series starter (you can tell it’s a new series because the last line completely sets up the sequel) and her double team of detectives – Lexy and her “uncle” Mike – work well together. The mystery itself is fun and while there are no great twists and turns, it’s also not completely obvious from the outset, which is nice. Continue reading “Review: Schooled”
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 