Tag Archives: books

The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark

Posted by melydia on June 7, 2011 None comments

The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark: It’s 1947, and Evie’s marriage has been failing ever since her husband returned from World War II, shellshocked and haunted. He wins a grant to document the end of the British Raj in India, so he takes his wife and young son to live in the small village of Masoorla. Behind a loose brick in the kitchen, Evie discovers letters between two young women written in the 1850s. Intrigued and perhaps more than a little in need of distraction, she searches out more information about the correspondents and what happened to them. The interwoven tales at the beginning and end of the British Raj fascinated me, as did the candid descriptions of life in colonial India. I loved most of the characters, and while at times the story was just heartbreaking, I had trouble putting it down. I had to know what happened to Adela and Felicity, whether Evie would leave, if Martin would be killed in an uprising. The ending was perhaps a little too tidy, but it was very sweet and satisfying nonetheless. I closed the book with a smile on my face, glad to have read it. That’s really all I can ask for in a novel.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Demon Queen and the Locksmith by Spencer Baum

Posted by melydia on June 6, 2011 None comments

The Demon Queen and The Locksmith by Spencer Baum: When Kevin skips his first day of high school, he never imagines the sort of impact it will have on his life. He meets a couple of other kids, they eat magic sap, they gain super powers, and all of it is somehow linked to Turquoise Mountain and its mysterious Hum that only certain people can hear. Throw in termites, fire ants, espresso, and a healthy dose of conspiracy theories, and you’ve got yourself one strange little tale. Still, I kind of enjoyed it. It’s certainly unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Sure, there were times when it felt like the author had been given a list of objects and told to write a story around them, but as a fan of writing challenges I can appreciate that aspect as well. I’m not sure who I’d recommend this to, though. Espresso fanatics? Budding entomologists? I don’t know. But if you’d looking for some young adult fantasy that doesn’t follow the same old formula, try this one on for size.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Posted by melydia on June 3, 2011 None comments

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (unabridged audiobook read by Kim Mai Guest; 5 hours on 4 discs): Rebellious American teenager Daisy is sent to England to live with her aunt and cousins, and a somewhat nebulous world war breaks out soon thereafter. It felt a bit like the author was wondering what would happen if World War II broke out today, except without actually picking specific countries to go to war with. Of course, the enemy’s identity isn’t all that important, since Daisy is the narrator and has little interest in politics anyway. The story is told well, with some horrific scenes, some sad scenes, and some happy scenes, and all in all I found it a perfectly believable representation of how such a person would deal with such a situation. I was somewhat confused by the weird psychic powers held by some of the characters, if only because everything else in the tale was completely realistic. In short, I’m having difficulty summing up my feelings about this book. It was almost equal parts trivial and serious, narrated by a character with whom I only somewhat sympathized. I’m glad to have read this, but I’m not sure I’d necessarily recommend it to anyone else. If I were to recommend it at all, I’d definitely go with the audio version, as I believe the punctuation issues in the print would drive me absolutely bats.

A note on the audio: Guest was quite good as the narrator, but it was a little strange that none of the English characters had English accents. Even so, she managed to make Daisy both believable and listenable as a pretty typical American teenager – no small task, that.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain

Posted by melydia on June 2, 2011 1 comments

How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain: Yeah, what you thought just now was pretty much what I thought when I picked up this book: “wait, what?” And that is, truth to tell, pretty much how I feel now that I’ve finished reading it. David’s father is a therapist for troubled teens whose latest client, the lovely Zelda, claims to be an alien searching for her Chosen One. This Chosen One turns out to be none other than famous actor Johnny Depp, but David follows her on her quest, more out of dumbstruck love than anything else. Soon they’re on a madcap adventure through Paris involving some stolen cars, underage sex, and burning gas stations. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous. I can see some parents objecting to the mature content, but this book has ‘80s teen comedy written all over it. It’s a bizarre and somewhat shallow story, and over all I think I enjoyed it. You might too.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants

Posted by melydia on May 30, 2011 None comments

Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants: Oliver is an outreach counselor for the mentally ill, which mainly involves making sure they get to their doctor appointments. His clients include Abbey, who may or may not have multiple personalities; Greg, who may or may not be turning into his therapist; and Doc, who may or may not be communicating with aliens who demand Big Macs. Meanwhile, the ultra-charismatic Jeremy, who may or may not be Jesus, has opened a new age shop and started a television show on public access to spread his message of selfishness. Confused? Believe it or not, the story wasn’t so difficult to follow as long as you just went with it, accepting whatever bizarre new twist was thrown at you. (I’ve found a similar approach is helpful when reading Douglas Adams novels.) This is a bizarre tale of religion, drugs, sex, extraterrestrials, mental illness, and fast food, full of cynical humor and truly strange characters. I would suggest that anyone who is very sensitive about any of these issues (most especially religion) give this one a miss, but if you’re more cynical and/or apathetic, you might find the insanity rather enjoyable. I’ll be curious to see if Commander Pants writes anything else, or if he chooses a different pen name for each novel.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Threadbared by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins

Posted by melydia on May 26, 2011 None comments

Threadbared by Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins: As a longtime fan of James Lileks’s Institute of Official Cheer, this sort of snarky commentary on vintage items looked right up my alley. And yes, it’s decently funny, but I only chuckled aloud a handful of times. The pictures range from amusing to creepy, but it just seems to be lacking something intangible. Maybe color – several of the pages made references to the (generally godawful) colors in the photos, which of course were printed in black and white, and on a few occasions made the jokes fall a little flat. It doesn’t help that the back cover copy includes quotes that don’t actually appear anywhere in the book. I suppose there may be folks who would find this uproariously funny, but to me it was just kind of meh.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

1,001 Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know by Anna Mantzaris

Posted by melydia on May 25, 2011 None comments

1,001 Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know by Anna Mantzaris: Most of the factoids in this book I already knew, and a fair majority of the rest were things I didn’t care if I knew, but I did indeed find a solid handful of items I didn’t know I wanted to know, so I’ll call this one a win. I like weird little trivia books. And while I was sad to learn that Crayola retired “raw umber” in 1990, I was amused to learn that both leotard and doily are named after men, and that there is no documentation of when people first started wearing hats. Sure, this isn’t the sort of book you’d want to sit down and read straight through (which, um, I guess is exactly what I did), but it’s reasonably entertaining to page through from time to time.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Relic Master #1: The Dark City by Catherine Fisher

Posted by melydia on May 19, 2011 None comments

Relic Master #1: The Dark City by Catherine Fisher: Galen is a Relicmaster and young Raffi is his apprentice, though here they are known as keeper and scholar, respectively. These two are members of The Order, an outlawed group of magic-users and collectors of Maker relics. It’s clear early on that these relics are scraps of human technology – a telescope, a wristwatch – but unlike many stories of this sort, the magic they possess is real. Galen has lost his powers and Raffi is still a novice, reminding me a bit of Aahz and Skeeve from Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures series, though Galen is more like Dragonlance’s Raistlin Majere than Aahz. When Galen and Raffi are called to investigate a relic in a nearby compound, they embark on a grander quest than either could have imagined. Meanwhile, they are being tailed by The Watch, the military-style rulers that have taken over the land and hunt down members of The Order.

The Dark City is the first of a quartet set to be released monthly this summer – an unusual decision but I think a wise one, as the buzz for the series can hopefully be kept up in between books more easily than if they were separated by years. I don’t know that I’d describe myself as actively waiting for the next installment, but I admit to being curious about Raffi and Galen’s future adventures. Anara is a fascinating world and I would love to have another visit.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

Posted by melydia on May 18, 2011 None comments

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith (unabridged audiobook read by Michael Page; 3 hours on 3 discs): A sort-of retelling of the myth of Angus, Celtic god of dreams and youth and love. The chapters alternate between the story of Angus’s life and more modern vignettes that somehow incorporate Angus in various forms. Though Angus is supposedly a god of love, all the vignettes were rather sad: love lost, doubt, infidelity. I felt very disconnected from the whole thing, really. The parts about Angus’s life came across more like someone was describing the myth to me, while the other stories were so vague (and dreamy, if you’ll forgive me) that I never quite got into them. In short, this book was decent, but did not convince me to seek out other books by this same author.

A note on the audio: Page, on the other hand, was quite good. His English and Scottish accents were lovely, and his Canadian accent was even somewhat convincing. (This is high praise; I have come across very few UK actors who can speak with a convincing North American accent.)

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Borneo Tom by Tom McLaughlin

Posted by melydia on May 13, 2011 None comments

Borneo Tom by Tom McLaughlin: A former Maryland schoolteacher with an incurable neurological disease decides to live his dream and explore Southeast Asia. The story is told in a series of one-page vignettes, with cartoony sketches on the facing pages, so it goes by quickly. While I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to visit the lands Tom describes, I had a great time experiencing his adventures vicariously. His no-holds-barred description and somewhat zany sense of humor made for a fun read, and also offset the more somber passages well. I was particularly amused by his visit to the Equator, and quite moved by his optimism in the face of such poverty and ecological damage. Borneo is one of those places I haven’t read much about, so this was a real treat. I still don’t want to visit in person, but I could listen to Tom’s stories all day.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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