Tag Archives: books

Marooned in Fraggle Rock by Barbara McClintock

Posted by melydia on May 19, 2010 None comments

Marooned in Fraggle Rock by David Young, illustrated by Barbara McClintock: Red and Boober wander off together so the others can finish preparing for Boober’s surprise birthday party, and are trapped by a cave-in. The characterization and dialogue were spot-on with my memories of the show (a favorite from childhood), and the illustrations were great. The story was surprisingly dark and scary. A happy ending is assured, of course, but there’s a lot going on here. Which is what made Henson’s creations so compelling: even the children’s shows have layers and complexity. Add some wonderful music and you have the show distilled into book form.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Posted by melydia on May 18, 2010 None comments

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams: As a longtime fan of Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide series, I’ve been meaning to read this for quite a while. Unfortunately, it’s clear why this series does not have the cult following of the other. It has the same random humor and just-go-with-it meandering style of plot, but somehow it doesn’t quite gel as a novel. The titular character doesn’t even show up until about halfway through the book. The narration shifts constantly between a computer programmer, his boss, his girlfriend, an Electric Monk, and Bizarre Omniscient. The characters are amusing on their own but one needs more than good characters to make a good novel. Don’t get me wrong: there are some very funny anecdotes and asides, but the main story is so confusing that the humor is nearly overshadowed. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to read the sequel.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris

Posted by melydia on May 17, 2010 None comments

Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris: First of all, forget old Willie; the title comes from Shakespeare, Arkansas, where our story takes place. The landlord in question is the murder victim. The protagonist is Lily Bard, a standoffish housecleaner with a dark past, whose only hobbies appear to be working out at the gym, taking martial arts classes, and obsessing over whether or not people have learned her secrets. When she happens to see the body being transported using her garbage cart one dark evening she quickly discovers that she must find the killer in order to prevent her secrets from being blasted all over town. As this is the first book in a series, we are introduced to tons of characters and even a couple of potential love interests, neither of which are particularly interesting. The cover art made me think it would be a touch more light-hearted, but in the end it’s a somewhat humdrum murder mystery with just barely enough suspense to keep the reader involved. The ending was too predictable to justify the lead-up, but I won’t say that I necessarily saw it coming from a mile away either. It was fine as a quick gym read, keeping my attention while I was on the stationary bike, but I won’t be reading any more in the series.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Posted by melydia on May 7, 2010 1 comments

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova: Dr. Andrew Marlowe, psychiatrist, tracks down the three major women in the life of painter Robert Oliver to figure out why the man attacked a painting in the National Portrait Gallery. His wife (Kate) and his mistress (Mary) both tell abridged versions of their life stories, which are interesting but not especially relevant. Interspersed are letters from 1879 between a young painter (Beatrice) and her husband’s uncle (Olivier). The ending is long in coming but predictable nonetheless, and somehow unsatisfying as well. That said, I very much enjoyed this book, if only for the passionate descriptions of painting, both the act and the appreciation of. It filled me with a longing to paint, to draw, even just to visit an art gallery. Sure, the story didn’t really go anywhere, but for once that didn’t bother me. Still, I’m not sure who I’d recommend this to – maybe a struggling artist in need of inspiration. It certainly inspired me.

The audio version of this book is decent, with a full cast of narrators. I could have done without the occasional music in the background, and I saw no reason for Beatrice and Olivier to read with such obnoxiously fake French accents, but otherwise it was pretty good.

Also posted on BookCrossing.
Read as part of the Books Won Reading Challenge.

Death Comes as Epiphany by Sharan Newman

Posted by melydia on May 1, 2010 None comments

Death Comes As Epiphany by Sharan Newman: Catherine LeVendeur is a novice nun who, while devoted to God, is more interested in the fact that living in a convent allows her to study and learn. When a psalter she helped write is defiled, the abbess sends her home to discover the vandal. In the midst of this she is swept up in a mystery of murder, theft, and vanity, as well as a timid budding romance with a secretive man. I enjoyed this one, which surprised me a little since I’m not much of a mystery reader, but I think what fascinated me most was the detailed description of life in the 12th century. It was very different from now, and it takes a talented writer to convincingly portray such characters without showing them in a modern light. Sure, perhaps Catherine herself is more progressive than was likely for a woman of those years, but she is engaging enough that one can overlook it. I may have to look up some other Newman books.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey

Posted by melydia on April 30, 2010 None comments

The Fire Within by Chris D’Lacey: David rents a room with a somewhat eccentric potter and her young daughter who is obsessed with squirrels. The back of this book talks about dragons at great length, but there’s far more about squirrels than dragons in this brief novel. Which is fine, since I like squirrels. The dragons in question – small ceramic creations that made me think of Pocket Dragons – were pretty predictable, but charming nonetheless. I wonder if the subsequent books in this series explain why all the dragons had names that started with G. Anyway, I’m rambling. In short, this would be a nice book for a younger reader. I found it to be pretty generic overall.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

BookCrossing Through Middle-Earth by Skyring

Posted by melydia on April 21, 2010 2 comments

BookCrossing Through Middle-Earth by Skyring: A memoir about two trips to New Zealand, twenty years apart: first for Skyring’s honeymoon, then another trip with his wife and two teenage children. This is a fun and friendly narrative, with plenty of rich detail. I especially enjoyed the little historical anecdotes, like the toilets on ships and the Maori’s sound defeat of the British. Skyring’s side comments, particularly when dealing with language, are often quite funny. (One such example: his assurance that Wakatipu is not widely pronounced “Wakkity-poo”, especially by locals.) As an American, Australia and New Zealand are quite closely connected in my mind, but Skyring’s adventures reminded me that they are indeed two separate countries. However, amidst all the humor, there is no mistaking Skyring’s abundant awe and respect for the beautiful land and people he encounters. I nearly salivated at some of the scenery he describes. I would recommend this thin book to other BookCrossers, of course, but also to anyone who enjoys travelogues. This certainly whetted my appetite for New Zealand.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Posted by melydia on April 7, 2010 None comments

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde: Detective Jack Spratt heads the somewhat failing Nursery Crimes Division of the Reading Police Department. Shortly after being assigned Mary Mary as his new partner, Spratt and his team are faced with solving the suspicious death of one Humperdink “Humpty” Dumpty. In a world where police departments get much of their funding from royalties earned publishing the gripping tales of their cases in Amazing Crimes magazine, Friedland Chymes is king, and he wants the Humpty case. Spratt’s boss gives him until the budgetary committee meeting to solve the case, so it’s a race against time and the laughs are nonstop. This is, quite simply, one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. I listened to it on audio, read by the immensely talented Simon Prebble, and on many occasions I laughed out loud or even repeated some of the funnier lines. They come at you from all sides, from hilarious takes on famous nursery rhyme characters to witty business names (my favorite newspaper name was The Daily Eyestrain) to truly bizarre plot twists. Highly recommended, but you might want to brush up on your nursery rhymes first so you can catch more of the jokes. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it just that much more.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll

Posted by melydia on April 6, 2010 2 comments

Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll: Cullen James (who is a woman, believe it or not) is happily married to Danny, is being romantically pursued by a famous movie director named Weber Gregston, has a fabulously (and stereotypically) gay best friend named Eliot, corresponds with her teenage axe-murdering former neighbor, and has serial dreams about a land called Rondua, in which her son (named Pepsi) is attempting to collect the five Bones of the Moon with the aid of giant animals Martio the camel, Felina the wolf, and Mr Tracy the dog. The dreamworld and the real world interweave in strange ways, from Cullen’s bizarre magical powers to the appearances of Jack Chili and Sizzling Thumb. I was disappointed at the lack of description of Cullen’s real life, such as her travels to Europe and her experiences living in New York City. There were a lot of “white room” experiences for me. On the other hand, I actually quite liked how little Rondua was described, leaving most of it up to the imagination of the reader. There is no explanation as to what exactly the bones of the moon actually are, nor any number of other strange things, like the Hot Shoes or Fire Sandwich – just like in real dreams. The bizarre names created all kinds of interesting mental pictures for me. I wish, however, that there had been a little bit more plot. Most of the dream sequences felt more like I was hearing them second-hand than experiencing them with the narrator, and the “twist” ending felt more like a cheap shot than anything truly shocking. But all in all I can’t say that this is a bad book. Just a very strange one. A nice change from the ordinary.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

A Secret Atlas by Michael A. Stackpole

Posted by melydia on April 4, 2010 None comments

A Secret Atlas by Michael A. Stackpole: The Anturasi family have been mapmakers for generations. This puts them in a unique position of power, since without maps trade and travel suffer. It has been almost 800 years since The Cataclysm, a magical holocaust which both literally and figuratively changed the face of the world, and everyone is still getting things sorted out. This is (more or less) the story of three of the Anturasi children: studious Keles, adventurous Jorim, and soul-searching Nirati. Keles is sent west to survey the lands where dangerous wild magic still has a great hold. Jorim is sent east in a ship to find a new route to the west (and his voyage is similar to Columbus’s in many ways). Nirati, concerned that she still does not exhibit a Talent, gets tangled up in local politics. Of course, this is barely scratching the surface. Like many fantasy epics, the characters and subplots are numerous. It is clear that a lot of world-building went into this book, and much time is spent explaining customs, fashions, and history. This doesn’t seem distracting at first, but I did find I lost the thread of the plot on several occasions. Nirati’s tale in particular confused me; I feel like I somehow skipped a chapter or something. Keles and Jorim’s adventures, on the other hand, were great – once they finally got started. I was especially fascinated by the effects of wild magic, how it moves in storms with unpredictable results. It’s unfortunate that this is the first book of a trilogy, which meant the ending was unsatisfying and things cut off just as the plot had at last begun to move along well. It simply does not stand on its own. I would probably read the other books were I to come across them, but I’m not sure I’ll seek them out. While this was certainly not a boring read and I had no problem churning through many chapters in a sitting, it is not something I thought about when I wasn’t reading. It was simply something to pass the time. So while I really enjoyed the world it was set in, I would have appreciated a tighter story.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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