Good
Just okay
Not for me
Definitely not for men-z authors
« Previous Entries Tuesday, June 17th, 2008Jacob Two Two’s First Spy Case
Poor Mr. Dinglebat was in a state. He had, he told Jacob Two-Two, recently invested a good deal of money in buying Canadian military secrets, and now he was stuck with them. “No customers,” he said.
This clever children’s book by Mordecai Richler was written for his children and modeled after the same, and it was just simply a delight to read. Featuring not only Jacob Two-Two, but also I.M. Greedyguts, Miss Sour Pickle, and Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse, this third installment of the Jacob Two-Two series made me laugh out loud at several points. I really, really enjoyed it. (It’s also a good short book for the Canadian Challenge — or if you need a ‘J’ title!)
1995, 144 pp.
Rating: 
Popularity: 13% [?]
Thursday, June 12th, 2008Review: The Road Past Altamont
I have always thought that the human heart is a little like the ocean, subject to tides, that joy rises in it in a steady flow, singing of waves, good fortune, and bliss; but afterward, when the high sea withdraws, it leaves an utter desolation in our sight. So it was with me that day.
Written in French by Gabrielle Roy and translated by Joyce Marshall, The Road Past Altamont captures a sweet young girl’s thoughts and feelings perfectly. I also enjoyed Roy’s descriptions of the vastness of the Manitoba prairie.
The book is really four interconnected stories more than a novel. The first story, “My Almighty Grandmother,” tells of Christine’s love and awe of her matriarch. The second story, “The Old Man and the Child,” is about Christine’s relationship with an elderly neighbor and their visit to Lake Winnipeg. This one was my favorite as I found so much sweetness in the pair’s friendship. In “The Move,” Christine discovers that not everyone lives as she does, and in “The Road Past Altamont,” an adult Christine deals with her mother’s increasing age and unrealized dreams.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Willa Cather or L.M. Montgomery. I would definitely read another book by Gabrielle Roy.
1966, 146 pp.
Rating:
Popularity: 14% [?]
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I was shocked at the ending and thought it was another senseless death until I read Deathly Hallows. I never believed, though, that the ‘murderer’ was a death eater. I kept my hopes up that the person in question wasn’t really dead — just like I did with the murdered one in Order of the Phoenix. Alas, it was not to be…
2005, 652 pp.
Rating: 4
Popularity: 8% [?]
Saturday, May 31st, 2008Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I listened to part of this on an 11 hour road trip, and it was a great way to spend the time. I actually didn’t mind the length of the book, but I did mind the death in the end. It just didn’t seem right to me. I wasn’t ready for that character to leave the scene just yet. Another thing I didn’t care for was Sirius’ whinyness. It really started getting on my nerves. I envisioned him as a noble character, not an overly whiny one.
I’m writing this review after completing all seven books, and I think this is where the series started to break down for me. I didn’t mind that the story was getting darker, but the death at the end just seemed senseless.
2003, 896 pp.
Rating: 4
Popularity: 8% [?]
Monday, May 26th, 2008Review: Blessings
Blessings is the family home of Lydia Blessing, an 80-year-old woman with strong opinions about the right way to say and do things. Her new caretaker of Blessings, Skip, doesn’t seem to be making the grade in Lydia’s eyes. He’s keeping strange hours and doing his work at odd times. The reason? He’s taking care of a baby. Not his baby, but a little girl that a young couple abandoned at Blessings. Skip doesn’t have the first clue how to take care of an infant, but he manages after awhile and even keeps her a secret from everyone for a time. Then, Lydia finds out. Although shocked at first, Mrs. Blessing’s heart is warmed by the child as well. Will Skip get to keep Faith, the little girl that has won over everyone at Blessings, including Mrs. Blessing, or will the little girl’s mother return to claim her?
Blessings by Anna Quindlen is not just about Skip and Faith, but also about family secrets and relationships. There is an entire back story of Lydia Blessing that adds a lot to the novel as well. I listened to the audio CD narrated by Joan Allen, and she did an outstanding job.
2002, 226 pp.
Rating: 
Popularity: 53% [?]
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Which cover do you prefer? I strongly prefer the UK version (the one on the left) as the US version doesn’t seem to fit the outcome of the story now, does it?
I really liked this one, especially Dobby. He’s such a great character — it’s a shame he had to be left out of the movie. I loved those parts!
Snuffles?
Next up is Order of the Phoenix. That one was my favorite movie, so I’m really looking forward to finding out all the details in the book.
Hugo Award, 2001
2000, 734 pp.
Rating:
Popularity: 65% [?]
Saturday, May 17th, 2008Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Another Harry Potter crossed off the list! I enjoyed this on CD as I took a couple of trips last week. I had already listened to about 1/3 of it earlier in the year, but the trip was a perfect time to complete it.
As I’ve read/listened to all the Harry Potters so far, I’m really struck by J.K. Rowling’s naming ability. Quality Quidditch Supplies. The Marauder’s Map. The Shrieking Shack. Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall. I love the names she gives things and people. I was really interested in the detail not in the movie about the Marauder’s Map and the Shrieking Shack. Of course, they can’t include everything, so it’s great to know the background of these aspects of the story.
I really love Jim Dale’s narration in the CD’s, but if I have one criticism, it’s this: He makes Hermione way too whiny. I don’t like how he portrays her at all. “Harreeeeeeeeeeeee” Ugh. Otherwise, he’s perfect.
I’m looking forward to the other books.
1999, 435 pp.
Rating: 4/5
Popularity: 63% [?]
Saturday, April 26th, 2008Review: The Mayor’s Tongue
Eugene is a mover in New York City whose favorite author is Constance Eakins. While doing a job one day, he runs into a biographer of Eakins who also happens to have a beautiful daughter, Sonia. Everyone else in the world believes Eakins is dead — that he just disappeared in Italy quite a few years back and never showed up again. He’s legally declared dead by the Italian authorities. Sonia’s father, the biographer, demands that it isn’t so — that his daughter speaks to Eakins regularly. But, no one has heard from her after her latest trip to Italy. Eugene decides to look for Sonia.
Meanwhile in a parallel story, an elderly Mr. Schmitz, also a New Yorker, is grieving the loss of his friend Rutherford who has just moved to Italy. He receives lucid letters from Rutherford at first, but then they become more and more incomprehensible. Schmitz also decides to take off for Italy to look for his friend.
This was a bizarre story that was unique enough to keep me reading and wanting to find out more. The book has quite a few fantasy elements too, and that was unexpected, but it certainly added to the story. It’s definitely a different book.
This is Nathaniel Rich’s first novel. It was released on April 17.
2008, 310 pp.
Rating: 3.5/5
Popularity: 41% [?]
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Maus II
The continuation of Maus, and subtitled And Here My Troubles Began (From Mauschwitz to the Catskills and Beyond), Maus II is every bit as outstanding as Maus, and the two books really should be read together. In this book we learn more about the end of Vladek’s life, and one of the questions that is posed from the book is:
They were survivors, but did they really and truly survive?
Art’s struggles with his father’s personality — made so because of the war — are clearly shown. He is very honest in his portrayal, even to the point of demonstrating his father’s own prejudices — something you would think would be non-existent in someone who had been persecuted himself.
Again, I highly recommend both books to all.
Serialized from 1973 to 1991, 127 pp.
Rating: 
Popularity: 57% [?]
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Maus by Art Spiegelman
Brilliant. Powerful. Poignant. Intensely personal. In graphic novel format and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize Special Award in 1992, Maus is Vladek Spiegelman’s story of his survival of Auschwitz during World War II. It is also a story of the father-son relationship between Vladek and Art. In this first book, Art interviews his father about his intense past. Each nationality is represented as a different animal. The Jews are mice, the Germans are cats, and the Poles are pigs. We not only see the absolute horrors of Auschwitz from a survivor’s viewpoint, we also see one survivor’s son deal with the guilt of just being the son of a survivor.
I first heard about this book through Dewey for the graphic novel challenge. Thanks so much, Dewey, for introducing me to this astounding work.
Highly recommended to all.
1986, 161 pp.
Rating:
Popularity: 54% [?]
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