Tag Archives: books

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Posted by melydia on January 6, 2012 1 comments

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: A shepherd boy in southern Spain dreams of finding his fortune at the Pyramids in Egypt. Shortly thereafter he meets a king who convinces him to journey to the Pyramids because this is his Personal Legend. So this is the story of the boy’s pursuit of his Personal Legend. One of the rules of writing that is repeated so often it’s almost a cliche is “show, don’t tell”. Well, this is one of those books that demonstrates that not all rules must be followed. Pretty much everything is told here: the characters’ innermost thoughts and intentions, everything that happens and the reason for it, and the outcome of all actions. And you know what? That’s just fine. This is a fable, and it’s clear from the start that you are being told this story rather than experiencing it along with the characters. I did find it a bit preachy at times, when “follow your dreams” and “never give up” might as well have been blinking neon lights, but by and large it was a pleasant little tale which I’m sure many people (less cynical people than I, that is) would find quite inspiring and uplifting.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Revenge by Mark Young

Posted by melydia on January 3, 2012 None comments

Revenge by Mark Young: Travis Mays walks away from his life in the police force after a sting operation ends in tragedy. He moves from central California to middle-of-nowhere Idaho, where he teaches criminology at a Washington university to fund his life as a recluse in a small cabin. One day he signs up for kayaking lessons; his guide is the lovely Jessie White Eagle, a Native American of the Nez Perce tribe whose brother has recently gone missing. What follows is a rather twisty tale of murder and deception. I understood the killer’s beef with Mays, but a whole lot of plot hangs on the chance meeting between Mays and White Eagle. If Mays hadn’t signed up for those lessons that day, quite a bit of this story would not have happened. Anyway, I enjoyed this one more than I’d expected, zipping through chapters with ease. It helps that the author has experience both as a cop and a journalist. Sure, I didn’t know what all the lingo and acronyms meant, but I gleaned enough from context that it didn’t distract me, and indeed added to the realism. My only real complaint was how much difficulty I had keeping the various characters straight. There are a lot of players here and all of them are interconnected, often in convoluted ways. I also wish there was more information on the Nez Perce, though instilling an interest in further learning is never a bad thing in the book. All in all, if you’re looking for a decent thriller, this is worth picking up.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Audiobook Recap 2011

Posted by melydia on January 2, 2012 None comments

I participated in two audiobook reading challenges in 2011, and I think I did fairly well, all told.

Books listened to: 34 (plus the last bit of Spook by Mary Roach and the first bit of The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly)

Total discs: 309 (though I did listen to a few on mp3)

Total time: 16 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes (aka 397 hours, 29 minutes). Most of that was in my car.

Male/Female Authors: 23/11

Male/Female Readers: 20/19

Shortest: Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith at 3 hours.

Longest: I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb at 32 hours, 15 minutes.

Full list: here

I don’t think I’ll be getting any awards, though as far as I can tell I’ve earned the “obsessed” and “singing it from the mountaintops” badges. I was so close to the highest badge on Bewitched Bookworks, but oh well. I would have made it had I driven to Illinois this summer instead of flown, but my busted ankle changed my life in a lot of ways.

You may have noticed that I didn’t mention which books I liked best or least. That’s just too hard. I really enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy by Collins, the Uglies series by Westerfeld, and of course everything by Gaiman and Funke and Hill. Most of the readers were excellent, with extra props to Corine Montbertrand and the cast of The Help in particular.

I won’t be signing up for any challenges this year. I’m tired, man! But I wish everyone the best of luck in whatever challenges they pursue in 2012. Happy New Reading Year! :D

Year-end Book Roundup: 2011

Posted by melydia on December 31, 2011 4 comments

Books Read in 2011:
1. Death from the Skies! by Philip Plait
2. Original Sin by Beth McMullen
3. Expiation by Greg Messel
4. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson
5. The Animal Review by Jacob Lentz and Steve Nash
6. Lodestone: The Sea of Storms by Mark Whiteway
7. First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
8. Exchange by Dale R. Cozort
9. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
10. The Talisman of Elam by Jim Mastro
11. Rin-Tin-Tin: The Movie Star by Ann Elwood
12. The Dog Park by Ann Elwood
13. Borneo Tom by Tom McLaughlin
14. The Dark City by Catherine Fisher
15. 1,001 Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know by Anna Mantzaris
16. Threadbared by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins
17. Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants
18. How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain
19. The Demon Queen and the Locksmith by Spencer Baum
20. The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark
21. Lodestone Book Two: The World of Ice and Stars by Mark Whiteway
22. The Torah Codes by Ezra Barany
23. Releasing Gillian’s Wolves by Tara Woolpy
24. Otherworld Tales by C.T. Markee
25. The Meowmorphosis by Coleridge Cook and Franz Kafka
26. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
27. The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
28. Neopets Ghoul Catchers #1: The Creeping Danger by Vivian Larue
29. Finders Keepers by Russ Colchamiro
30. Waterwoman by Lenore Hart
31. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
32. The Two Dead Girls by Stephen King
33. The Mouse on the Mile by Stephen King
34. Coffey’s Hands by Stephen King
35. The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix by Stephen King
36. Night Journey by Stephen King
37. Coffey on the Mile by Stephen King
38. White River Junctions by Dave Norman
39. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
40. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
41. The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
42. The Last Cowgirl by Jana Richman
43. The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
44. The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick
45. Grover G. Graham and Me by Mary Quattlebaum
46. River Rat: The Storm Treasure by Joseph Fleck
47. Lodestone Book Three: The Crucible of Dawn by Mark Whiteway
48. Highlander: The Captive Soul by Josepha Sherman
49. The Patron Saint of Eels by Gregory Day
50. Revenge by Mark Young
51. Ireland (Little-Known Facts about Well-Known Places) by David Hoffman
52. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
53. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
54. The Prestige by Christopher Priest
55. Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Books Listened to in 2011:
1. Spook by Mary Roach
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. Don’t Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis
4. Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
5. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
6. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
7. The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
8. Dune by Frank Herbert
9. Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
10. Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith
11. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
12. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
13. Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules edited by David Sedaris
14. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
15. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
16. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
17. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
18. Divergent by Veronica Roth
19. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
20. The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
21. The Collectors by David Baldacci (abridged)
22. The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
23. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
24. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
25. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
26. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
27. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
28. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
29. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
30. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
31. Sex, Murder, and the Meaning of Life by Douglas T. Kenrick
32. Trackers by Deon Meyer
33. Horns by Joe Hill
34. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
35. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Books Started but not Finished:
* Creative, Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho and Meg Mateo Ilasco (just didn’t interest me)
* Fractured Time by Michael D’Ambrosio (I just…couldn’t.)
* Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (Had too much trouble following the story)
* Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (Couldn’t understand it and didn’t care enough to try)

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

The Patron Saint of Eels by Gregory Day

Posted by melydia on December 30, 2011 None comments

The Patron Saint of Eels by Gregory Day: Noel is woken one night to the sound of hundreds of eels sloshing about in the roadside ditches, having been washed out of the river by a recent string of heavy rains. It’s the most exciting thing to have happened in this tiny Australian town for ages, but even more remarkable is the stranger who appears the following night, chanting and ringing his bell for the eels. Noel and his friend Nanette spend the next day talking with the stranger. While it’s clear this is supposed to be a fable, the lessons are vague. My best guess is “stop complaining and do something about your problems” but then at other times it seems to be “relax and go with the flow”. So I dunno. Not a whole lot happens in this book – in fact, basically nothing happens – but I enjoyed the descriptions of the Australian bush. I wouldn’t mind living in a fire tower overlooking such lands. All the same, it’s a quick read, so if you’re looking for something different from your normal fare, this might just fit the bill.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Posted by melydia on December 27, 2011 1 comments

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (unabridged audiobook read by Philip Franklin; 9 hrs 10 min on 8 discs): In the mid 1990s, Krakauer was sent as a journalist to join an guided expedition to the top of Mount Everest. Things go massively wrong and twelve people lose their lives. This is, as perhaps should be expected, an extremely difficult book to get through. The history and mechanics of climbing Everest and mountaineering in general are fascinating, but this is clearly the tale of one man’s struggle with grief and loss – a tragedy that is, to me, completely senseless. There’s no necessity to summit Everest. I get why people do it, but there’s nothing noble in dying to do so. I’m not usually interested in sad stories, but the personality of Krakauer’s writing kept me going. The details are shared with such frankness and intimacy that I felt like I was there. Would I recommend this book? Sure, as long as you understand what you’re getting yourself into: there’s no redemption, no happy ending. As such, it should be required reading for anyone planning to scale a major peak, even with a guide. It is not something to be undertaken lightly. Neither, for that matter, is this book, though in a completely different sense.

A note on the audio: Since this was a nonfiction book and thus relatively little dialogue, Franklin had no need for distinct voices. However, his subtle (and, to my ears, accurate) accents for the folks from New Zealand, Britain, and Texas, and elsewhere really accentuated the experience.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Highlander: The Captive Soul by Josepha Sherman

Posted by melydia on December 23, 2011 None comments

Highlander: The Captive Soul by Josepha Sherman: I watched Highlander back when it was on and naturally my favorite character was Methos, the oldest living Immortal. He’s certainly the most interesting. Though the outer story is of MacLeod and Methos searching for a serial-killer Immortal who happens to be an old enemy of Methos, the majority of the book takes place in ancient Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos. So basically we have one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite historical time periods. Yes, please! Methos’s sarcastic inner monologue is often hilarious, and his general demeanor is very true to the series. It really was a pretty great show. Makes me want to get my hands on the DVDs again.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Horns by Joe Hill

Posted by melydia on December 20, 2011 None comments

Horns by Joe Hill (unabridged audiobook read by Fred Berman; 13 hrs 45 min on 12 discs): Ig wakes up one morning, hungover and with no memory of the previous night’s activities, to find he has grown horns on his head. Even more disturbing, everyone he meets starts confessing their most horrible deeds and desires to him. He remains the only suspect in the rape and murder of his girlfriend, Merrin, a year prior, so many of these confessions include people’s belief in his guilt. Ig’s brother Terry is a famous trumpet player with a late-night variety show; his best friend Lee is a bit of a weirdo who works for a local politician; his new sort-of-girlfriend Glenna is a good-hearted girl who is pitifully desperate for love. The story of Ig’s search for Merrin’s real killer is interlaced with flashbacks of high school events when his relationships with her and Lee began. Though there are some undeniably horrifying moments and this book is certainly not for the squeamish, nothing ever felt gratuitous. I felt a surprising affection for Ig and Terry; there were parts during the last few chapters when I was smiling through tears. Definitely recommended.

A note on the audio: Berman’s character voices were subtle but distinct. I could recognize Ig and Lee and Merrin and Glenna even before they were named as speakers. There were a few screams that Berman reproduced with gusto – a bit disconcerting to hear while driving – and overall the whole narrative was well done.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Lodestone Book Three: The Crucible of Dawn by Mark Whiteway

Posted by melydia on December 16, 2011 None comments

Lodestone Book Three: The Crucible of Dawn by Mark Whiteway: It’s difficult to review this book without leaving it full of spoilers for the first two, but I’ll give it a try. Our heroes continue in their efforts to stop The Prophet, with help from some unlikely allies. The action was well paced and exciting; the plot moved along at a good clip; and uses of the magnet-like lodestone technology continued to be inventive and consistent. I was unconvinced by Lyall’s sudden obsession with his missing sister, a fact that had barely been mentioned since he was first introduced, but I was able to more or less just go with it. Whiteway’s depiction of relationships is interestingly lopsided: the platonic interactions are complex and realistic, especially those between Keris and Boxx, Keris and Shann, and Shann and Alondo. The romantic relationships, on the other hand, leave a bit to be desired. Oliah’s introduction was too swift and I never felt Alondo’s connection with her; Rael is a whiny little doormat who doesn’t deserve Shann’s affections. (She needs someone with at least as strong a personality as herself.) All the same, I enjoyed this installment of the Lodestone series easily as much as the other two, and with the ending clearly leading into another sequel, I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

River Rat: The Storm Treasure by Joseph Fleck

Posted by melydia on December 13, 2011 None comments

River Rat: The Storm Treasure by Joseph Fleck: After a major thunderstorm, Joey goes for a ride down the Narragansett River on his homemade raft looking for treasures. This brief story is the sort you’d listen to your grandfather tell: somewhat interesting but without much in the way of drama or conflict. I also imagine it would be far more engaging if I knew the people involved. But at less than 100 large-print, illustration-rich pages, there’s no time to get bored.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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