Servant of the Jackal God by Keith Taylor

Posted by melydia on January 11, 2013 None comments

Servant of the Jackal God by Keith Taylor: A collection of interconnected short stories about Kamose, archpriest of the Egyptian funerary god Anubis. They more or less follow Kamose’s attempts to discover who tried to frame him in the first story, but if he solves the mystery I missed it. All the same, the stories are interesting and a nice blend of Egyptian history and mythology. My favorite stories involved Si-hotep. His tales strayed a little bit from the main story arc, but the creatures and magic involved were great. If you love ancient Egypt, this is probably a good book for you.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bookmark and Share

Godspeed by Dan Chabot

Posted by melydia on January 8, 2013 None comments

Godspeed by Dan Chabot: The structure of this novel is quite unusual: most of it is the unbelievably saccharine tale of Derry and Amedee’s storybook romance, interspersed with the occasional chapter describing the funeral of some random person. The plot shows up about halfway through, adding quite a bit of interest to the characters’ journeys. This reads a bit like the author took a bunch of anecdotes about real people, embellished them a little bit, and strung them together into a story. There’s no villain or even much conflict to speak of, but the characters are reasonably memorable and the funeral bit is an interesting touch. If you’re in the mood for a quiet, pleasant read that won’t bring you down, give this a try. If you’re looking for a piece of hard-boiled drama, look elsewhere.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bookmark and Share

The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton

Posted by melydia on January 4, 2013 None comments

The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton (unabridged audiobook read by Kimberly Alexis; 10 hrs on 8 discs): In this second installment of the adventures of Anita Blake, she spends much of her time not wanting to know things. To be fair, there’s a child-killing zombie on the loose, she’s gotten on the bad side of a powerful voodoo priestess, and the master vampire of the city insists that she be his human servant. So there’s a lot on her plate. Luckily, she’s always ready with a clever comment or snide remark. The ending introduces some darker themes, leading me to believe perhaps the series takes a turn for the serious after this, but this particular story was still a lot of fun. Brutally violent at times, but still a fun bit of horror-comedy.

A note on the audio: My husband happened to listen to an hour or two of this and was mightily entertained. He said that Alexis’s voice made it sound like a film noir, and he often laughed aloud at some of the offhand comments Anita makes. I think he felt bad until I assured him that it’s supposed to be funny.

Bookmark and Share

Jenny Kidd by Laury A. Egan

Posted by melydia on January 1, 2013 None comments

Jenny Kidd by Laury A. Egan: American artist Jenny Kidd travels to Venice to pursue painting and escape her tyrannical parents. Shortly after arriving she meets eccentric Britishwoman Randi, who invites her to a masked party at the home of the Barbons. There she meets the alluring Caterina and her brother Sebastiano. Jenny spends much of her time in various kinds of confusion, unsure who she loves and who she can trust. The descriptions of paintings and the Venetian scenery are lovely, and while the amount of sex is somewhat surprising to a prude like myself, it doesn’t detract from the story. I finished this far more quickly than I was expecting, having no problem convincing myself to read “just one more chapter” before turning out the light. Perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed myself.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

P.S. – Happy New Year! :D

Bookmark and Share

Year-End Book Wrap-up: 2012

Posted by melydia on December 31, 2012 2 comments

I was this close to finishing 100 books this year. Just two short! Maybe next year.

Books Read in 2012:
1. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
2. All Her Father’s Guns by James Warner
3. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
4. Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
5. Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
6. Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson
7. Black Bodies and Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette
8. Jaguar Sun by Martha Bourke
9. Ugly to Start With by John Michael Cummings
10. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
11. Shite’s Unoriginal Miscellany by A. Parody
12. Fire Baptized by Kenya Wright
13. e: The Story of a Number by Eli Maor
14. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
15. Beginner’s Luck by Laura Pedersen
16. Walpurgis III by Mike Resnick
17. The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
18. America: The Book by Jon Stewart
19. Passage by Connie Willis
20. First Person Plural by Andrew W. M. Beierle
21. Why Rattlesnakes Rattle by Valeri R. Helterbran
22. War of the Twins (Dragonlance Legends vol. 2) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
23. Test of the Twins (Dragonlance Legends vol. 3) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
24. The Daily Telegraph’s Book of Obituaries edited by Hugh Massingberd
25. Merciful Flush by Lance Manion
26. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
27. Ernie by Tony Mendoza
28. Ghosts of the Tower of London by G. Abbott
29. Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
30. Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin
31. The Best of Shrdlu by Denys Parsons
32. Breaking the Devil’s Heart by H.A. Goodman
33. Hey Canada! by Vivian Bowers and Milan Pavlovic
34. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
35. and then there were three… by Supriya Bhatnagar
36. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
37. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
38. Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
39. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
40. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
41. Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan
42. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
43. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
44. The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America by Julian Montague
45. Tau Zero by Poul Anderson
46. Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
47. As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto
48. The Food of the Gods by H.G. Wells
49. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
50. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
51. The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
52. The Daria Diaries by Anne D. Bernstein
53. Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley
54. Ring by Koji Suzuki
55. Found by Davy Rothbart
56. Jenny Kidd by Laury A. Egan
57. Godspeed by Dan Chabot
58. Servant of the Jackal God by Keith Taylor
59. The Darlings by Christina Alger

Books Listened to in 2012:
1. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
3. Luminous Airplanes by Paul La Farge
4-5. Back Story and Widow’s Walk by Robert B. Parker
6. Atonement by Ian McEwan
7. Evermore by Alyson Noel
8. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
9. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared M. Diamond
10. The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
11. Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
12. The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry
13. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
14. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
15. The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card
16. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
17. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
18. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
19. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
20. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrson
21. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
22. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
23. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
24. Stuart Little by E.B. White
25. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
26. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle [reread]
27. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle
28. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle
29. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
30. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
31. Angelica by Arthur Phillips
32. Cod by Mark Kurlansky
33. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
34. So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
35. The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield
36. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
37. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
38. The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton
39. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Books Started but Not Finished:
* Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A.E. Moorat (just didn’t care)
* Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell (not my style of humor)
* Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (disc 3 of audiobook too scratched)
* Silence the Whispers by Cait London (didn’t interest me)

Previous years: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | Review Archive

Bookmark and Share

Ring by Koji Suzuki

Posted by melydia on December 28, 2012 None comments

Ring by Koji Suzuki: I’ve seen the movie inspired by this book (both the American and Japanese versions), and while they were decidedly creepy, the scares were mostly visual so I figured I’d be okay with the book. And I have to say that the films are much more engaging. For one thing, the iconic stringy-haired girl who crawls out of the television doesn’t even make an appearance here. The characters are either superfluous or kind of awful, and many of the details are so silly as to feel forced. The story of VHS tape that kills you a week after watching it is a neat idea, and I like the general storyline, but it’s simply told far better by the films.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bookmark and Share

Found by Davy Rothbart

Posted by melydia on December 25, 2012 None comments

Found by Davy Rothbart: This book is kind of amazing. Yes, it’s filled with assorted found items (mostly handwritten notes), but what gets me is how it looks like the whole thing was laid out by hand and photocopied, like a higher-quality version of a zine. It’s also not the sort of thing you can just casually flip through. I found myself repeatedly sucked into the stories of these strangers, at times sad and hilarious and maddening – sometimes simultaneously. It’s inspired me to look down from time to time to see what treasures lay at my feet. I also have a couple things I may yet send in.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

P.S. – Merry Christmas! May you find joy today. :)

Bookmark and Share

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Posted by melydia on December 21, 2012 None comments

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (unabridged audiobook read by Ari Graynor; 14 hrs on 12 discs): Clary is an ordinary teenager living an ordinary life until the night she meets a trio of demon hunters. They are just as surprised to see her as she is, since they are usually invisible to mundanes. She barely has time to get used to the idea of demons being real before her mother is attacked by one. With the help of shadow hunter Jace, Clary begins the search for her mother and answers to questions about her past. The writing is nothing special – things land “with a dull thud” and people let out breaths they didn’t know they were holding – and I saw every single plot twist coming a mile away. But the characters are fun and the world building clearly extensive. I admit, I was a little put off at first by the main character sharing a name (and hair color) with the author. Luckily, Clary didn’t come across as too glaring of an author insertion. I’ve heard the series goes downhill after a few books, but I think I’ll at least give it one more volume. This world is way too much fun to give up just yet.

Bookmark and Share

The Daria Diaries by Anne D. Bernstein

Posted by melydia on December 18, 2012 None comments

The Daria Diaries by Anne D. Bernstein: I remember watching the show back when it was first on, but either I didn’t watch much or I’ve forgotten most of it in the intervening fifteen years, because parts of this book were quite unfamiliar to me. Or it could be that I’ve simply outgrown the high school angst and boredom that’s so smartly satired here. (Nah!) It was a nice distraction while I suffered from a nasty ear infection, but all in all I think this book would be better suited to a diehard fan of the show. Which is, to be fair, who it was written for in the first place. It doesn’t stand on its own that well.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bookmark and Share

The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman

Posted by melydia on December 14, 2012 None comments

The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman: I picked up this book because the cover was completely plastered with tiny text so ridiculous that I knew I needed it. This is more or less a book of trivia – trivia that is entirely composed of lies. And a weird obsession with hobos. It probably would be better read a little bit at a time rather than straight through like I did, but there were certainly some very funny tidbits of random. I think I was most amazed at the fact that pretty much every single footnote, no matter how absurd, actually did refer to another section of the book. Including, for example, beard trends. Look, I don’t know. If you think non sequiturs are funny, this is probably the book for you.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bookmark and Share

© 2010-2013 kate weber All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright