Category Archives: book reviews

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Posted by melydia on October 8, 2013 None comments

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher: In this third installment of The Dresden Files, Harry is up against vampires and ghosts and demons and nagging friends. This time around he is joined by Michael, whose magic powers come from his unshakable Christian faith and amazing sword. This book requires some amount of knowledge about the series, as several of the baddies are from the prior books: the head vampire lady, Harry’s fairy godmother, etc. The plotting here was a bit thinner and more scatterbrained, but I am hoping it’s the beginning of a larger story that will stretch into future books. I got a little tired of Harry being beaten up and then rallying over and over again, as well as his lengthy bouts of introspection, but I liked the story and characters enough that I’ll stick with the series for at least a few more books. I’ve heard it gets better as things go on, so hopefully this was just a bump in the road.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco

Posted by melydia on October 4, 2013 None comments

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco, translated by Geoffrey Brock (unabridged audiobook read by George Guidall; 15 hrs on 13 discs): 60-year-old Yambo, an antiquarian book dealer, wakes up in a hospital with amnesia. He remembers everything he’s ever read, everyday things like how to shave, and a certain amount of history, but all his personal life experiences are gone. He doesn’t know who anyone is, or how anything tastes or feels, or any other memory with an emotional component. The first portion is largely a string of literary references that build on each other through word association. Eventually he returns to his childhood home to read old schoolbooks and comics in order to rediscover his own identity. His memory returns very gradually, so you have to be in it for the journey, not anticipating some Big Change at any point. To be honest, I was bored for a lot of this book. I didn’t understand a lot of the references, especially later when most of them were to WWII-era Italian propaganda. The amnesia concept was fresh – rediscovering tastes and smells, for example – and the actual memories turned out to be quite interesting, but for the most part I felt like I was slogging through a bunch of navel-gazing for which I had no context. I also never figured out what caused him to get the amnesia to begin with, but that may have been revealed at a time when I’d glazed over. I am quite certain many people would quite enjoy this book, but I appear to not be one of them.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Posted by melydia on October 1, 2013 None comments

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: This is the second book in The Dresden Files, but I read the first one so long ago that I can safely say that you can enjoy this one just fine on its own. Here, our favorite wizard-for-hire is dealing with being on just about everybody’s bad side: the mafia, the FBI, the local cops, and multiple varieties of werewolf. The plot is exciting and funny, often at the same time, without losing the realistic touch that yes, people do really get hurt when magic and magical creatures get out of hand. I especially liked the different types of werewolf all existing in the same world: that’s something I haven’t encountered before. Dresden’s commentary is always enjoyable, but all the characters are three-dimensional. All in all a very fun read.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Ghost from the Grand Banks by Arthur C. Clarke

Posted by melydia on September 27, 2013 None comments

The Ghost from the Grand Banks by Arthur C. Clarke: It’s always interesting to read books that take place in a future that is now the past. Granted, this one has a much shorter timeframe – it was written in 1990 and takes place in 2010 – so things aren’t all that far off, but the differences are more noticeable for it. I wonder how the story would have changed had Clarke envisioned smart phones. I was especially amused to read about the couple who made their fortune “sanitizing” old movies by removing all evidence of cigarettes. Anyway, this is about two semi-rival attempts to raise the Titanic using two very different methods. Luckily, they’re each content retrieving a different half of the ship so there isn’t much rivalry aside from who gets it to the surface first. And honestly, it’s really not all that good. The technology is passably interesting but the characters are too thin, the disasters are too convenient, and the Mandelbrot Set theory is jammed in sideways with no apparent connection to anything else in the story. This might appeal to a Clarke or Titanic enthusiast, but if you’re new to either, you’d be better off picking up something else.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

Posted by melydia on September 24, 2013 None comments

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett: The title of this book is somewhat misleading: American Elsewhere sounds like it should be about numerous locations across the country, not a tiny town in New Mexico, but that’s neither here nor there. Shortly after the death of her deadbeat father, Mona Bright learns she has inherited a house from her long-deceased mother in tiny Wink, New Mexico. The locals are mostly friendly but somewhat aloof, unused to strangers and seemingly afraid of basically everything. Mona later learns that there’s more to this town than she thought, from defunct super-secret government facilities to creatures that may or may not be old gods to her own mother’s mysterious past. The influence of Stephen King on this writer is obvious and extensive. Which is fine, if you like King, and I’m okay with King. This book, clocking in at just under 700 pages, is perhaps too long, but it doesn’t drag much. If you like atmospheric horror with some monsters thrown in, you may enjoy this one. As it is, I do not feel inspired to pick up any other works by this author.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer

Posted by melydia on September 20, 2013 2 comments

And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook read by Simon Jones; 10.5 hrs on 9 discs): As a longtime fan of the series, I approached this book with some trepidation. After all, I had pretty lukewarm feelings about Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books. I am pleased to report that I was not disappointed. This book is hilarious. And, in a lot of ways, it makes up for the rather disappointing end to Mostly Harmless. All your favorite characters are here: Trillian, Zaphod, Arthur, and assorted other characters. No Marvin, but I’m pretty sure something final happened to him in a previous book. The Guide notes are marvelous and I did quite a lot of laughing throughout the story. The ending wraps up more or less satisfactorily while still left wide open for any future installments. To be honest, I did not expect to recommend this book to fans of the series, but I definitely do. It’s a pile of fun.

A note on the audio: Simon Jones played Arthur Dent in the original incarnations of the Hitchhiker’s Guide, and indeed I read somewhere that he was Adams’s inspiration for the character, so it was pretty durn nifty to have him read this book. He also has joined Prebble and Vance on my list of beloved audiobook narrators named Simon.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

It’s Nothing Personal by Kate O’Reilley

Posted by melydia on September 17, 2013 3 comments

It’s Nothing Personal by Kate O’Reilley: Jenna Reiner is an anesthesiologist whose life is turned upside-down when one of her patients contracts Hepatitis C from a contaminated syringe, switched out by an infected scrub nurse stealing drugs. One of the victims decides go sue not only the scrub nurse, but the hospital and Jenna herself; this is mainly the story of her experience being sued. I found the legal portions of the story interesting, but Jenna herself was a little bit tiresome, what with everybody always talking about what a saint she is, and how different she is from those awful other doctors. The ending was at once disappointing and realistic. All the same, it was a change from the usual, since here we have a medical malpractice suit from the doctor’s point of view, with the reminder that everyone involved is a well-meaning human being (except maybe the lawyers).

A bit of background I knew going into this: the author of this book went through a very similar situation. I don’t know that all the characters acted quite as she portrayed them, but it was an informative survey of the process and, I imagine, a fairly cleansing act for the author herself. I haven’t decided if I’m glad I knew that this story was semiautobiographical beforehand or if it would have been better to find out afterward, but it certainly didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. It just added a few extra “I wonder if this is really how it happened” questions from time to time. Certainly a different kind of medical drama.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Leave of Absence by Tanya J. Peterson

Posted by melydia on September 13, 2013 None comments

Leave of Absence by Tanya J. Peterson: When Oliver’s suicide attempt is thwarted by a well-meaning police officer, he is sent to a behavior health center where he meets Penelope. Oliver is suffering from PTSD after the death of his wife and son; Penelope and her fiance are struggling with her recent diagnosis of schizophrenia. They form an unexpected friendship. This description makes the story sound kind of dull, but it’s not. I’ve never read such a sympathetic fictional depiction of mental illness. Penelope’s fiance, for example, still loves her deeply and wants to marry her, and she can’t figure out why he hasn’t run screaming. The ending is uplifting but ultimately realistic, a very good introduction to how people cope with loss, grief, and illness.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Outside the Spotlight by Sophie Weeks

Posted by melydia on September 10, 2013 None comments

Outside the Spotlight by Sophie Weeks: Isabella, who stars in a French Christmas carol, lives in a land of all things Christmas: every song, story, poem, and legend about this holiday coexists in one place. However, after several centuries she’s grown tired of her monotonous existence and decides to vacation in the land of Mystery, where she meets the famous Sherlock Holmes. There are some strange philosophical issues raised here, but suffice it to say that these characters know they are characters but they remain fairly autonomous nonetheless. Many writers talking about how their characters often will do things they don’t expect, and this sort of takes that to the next level. Sherlock’s presence is slightly gratuitous, but it remains a very fun story, especially delightful to anyone who’s ever dabbled in writing fiction.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Posted by melydia on September 6, 2013 2 comments

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (unabridged audiobook read by Julie Dretzin; 17.75 hours on 15 discs): This is, in a nutshell, Lee Fiora’s experiences attending boarding school near Boston after growing up in South Bend. It’s more a collection of anecdotes than a single narrative, but that’s pretty much what high school is after all: a series of events with no ultimate cohesion or story arc. Which is fine, as far as that goes, but I personally found this book absolutely excruciating most of the time, as Lee embodies many of my worst traits as a teenager. She’s awkward and self-absorbed and petty and miserable. And as familiar as her attitude was to me, I had very little sympathy for someone who chose this life for herself. No one forced her to do this. But you know what? Part of me thinks this may be a book like Catcher in the Rye, where you really have to read it at a certain age. Maybe, had I been 16 when I read this, I would have really liked it. As a 34-year-old, I really didn’t.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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